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THE 

West-brook Drives, 



-BY- 



HENRIETTA PAYNEWESTBROOK, M. D. 



AUTHOR OF 



THE ACTOR'S CHILD. Ktc. 



ILLUSTRATED BY MAR I ANN A SLOAN. 



New York. 

PETER ECKLER, PUBLISHER, 

1902, 



THP LIBRARY •f 

CONGRESS, 
Two Qoftn Receive* 

FEB. !4 1902 

CLASSC^ XXo. No. 

o*PY a 






Copyrighted, 1902, 

BY 

Henrietta Pavnk-Westbrook, M. D. 



TO THE MEMORY OF 
RICHARD BRODHEAD WESTBROOK, D. D.,— L. L. D. 

THE BELOVED AND ADMIRED OF ALL WHO KNEW HIM, 

TO THE " PARSON," THE " LAWYER " AND THE " JUDGE," 

THIS LITTLE BOOK IS MOST AFFECTIONATELY 

DEDICATED BY THE 

"lady doctor" AND THE "REPORTER." 

H. P. WESTBROOK, M. D. 
1707 Oxford St., 

Philadelphia, Pa. 



CONTENTS. 



I, 

II. 

III. 

IV. 

V 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 

X. 

XI. 

XII. 

XIII. 

XIV. 

XV. 

XVI. 

XVII. 

XVIII. 

XIX. 

XX. 



A Drive by the Delaware, 

(From Start to Finish), 
A Drive by the Delaware, 

(From Start to Finish, Continued), . 
A Drive by the Delaware, 

(From Start to Finish, Concluded), . 
A Drive to Longwood in A. D. 1883, 
To Longwood Meeting in A. D. 1884, 
August and September in the White 

Mountains, ..... 
A Ride by Rail Along the River, 
A Summer Drive, 

" CContinned), 



Is Marriage a Failure ? 

A Summer Drive (Continued), 



(V) 



7 

27 

49 
69 

79 

94 
102 
112 
121 
129 

138 
149 

158 
166 

175 
187 

195 
203 
211 
219 



VI 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTKl: PAGE 

XXI. A vSummer Drive (Continued), . 227 

XXII. " " " " . . 237 

XXIII. " " " " . . 245 

XXIV. A vSumnier Drive (Concluded), . 253 
XXV. The Round Trip, . . • 263 

XXVI. " " " .... 271 

XXVII. " " " . . . 279 

XXVIII. " " " . . . . 287 

XXIX. " " "..... 295 

XXX. " " " . . . . 303 

XXXI. ' " " 311 

XXXII. " " " . . . . 319 

XXXIII. " " " 328 

XXXIV. " " " . . . . 336 
XXXV. " " " 344 

XXXVI. " " " . . . 352 

XXXVII. " " " 361 

XXXVIII. " " " . . . . 371 

XXXIX. The Round Trip (Concluded) . . 378 

XL. Drive to Longvvood in A. D. 1893, . 387 



ILL USTRA TIONS. 



PAGE. 

Portrait of Richard Brodhead Westbrook, D.D., LL.D. r ^ 

Starting Out, 7 ^ 

Descending from the Carriage, . . . 48 *^ 

The Toll Gate 93- 

Looking for a Second Wife, 120 t-- 

A Negro Woman Hoeing Corn, . . . 148 ^ 

One Opulent Establishment, 174 

Left Out, 202 

Waterfall at Dingman's 226 

The Old Man of the Mountain, . . . 252 

Lake Winnipiseogee, . . . . . .270 

The Flume, ....... 294 

The Evening Meeting, . . . . . .310 

The Crazy Quilt,. 335 

Clams and Blue Fi.sh, 351 

Married Lovers, 370 

A Farewell Drive Together, 393 



THE PREFACE. 

THIS is always the part read last. Somehow, how- 
ever, we wish to inform the reader that this 
veritable history was really written surreptitiously. 
True, the reporter carried her note book very conspic- 
uously ; but she was never known to write anything 
in it ; and it became a joke with our party that her 
note book did not note anything. 

The fact was, she used a peculiar short hand of her 
own, and with her book and pencil concealed under 
the light carriage robe, jotted down everything as it 
occurred. Then when the rest of the party were 
looking after the horses, or taking their ease in a hotel, 
she, the reporter, was translating the fresh scrawls. 

Thus it happened that sometime after the return 
home, there began to appear in a local paper these 
identical travels. If the judge and the rest of the 
party had known "there's a chile amang ye taking 
notes," they could never have talked so freely and to 
such purpose. The result was that when they saw 
themselves so naturally in print they were the most 
astonished people in the world. 

It had its little effect even on strangers, as the fol- 
lowing incidents show. One day the reporter went 
as all Philadelphia ladies do, to the market for the 
family provisions. At one farmer's stand she ordered 
a gallon of vinegar. 

** How much is it? " she asked. 
^' (iii) 



IV PREFACE. 

"Nothing to you Miss," he said, "Nothing to 
you. I've had more than that worth, out of the 
West-Brook Drives." 

The story of the Drives had been running about 
three months or so, when the Newspaper Editor in- 
vited the reporter, and indeed the whole party to pass 
Sunday at his country place. 

Soon after our arrival a little girl about twelve 
years old shyly entered and dropped awkwardly into 
the first seat. She was evidently a neighbor and no 
one paid any attention as she sat silently twirling her 
thumbs. At last the reporter addressed some kindly 
words to her. Her only response was, 

" You don't know how I have wanted to see you 
and Lex." 

Without another syllable she remained with eyes 
fixed and staring about ten minutes and then slid out 
as quietly as she had come in. We thought she had 
Cfone to the stable to look at Lex but found she had 
been there first ! ! ! 

Yours truly, 

The Reporter. 



A DRIVE BY THE DELAWARE. 
CHAPTER I. 

FROM START TO FINISH. 

THE early July days had been too hot and dusty 
for any kind of journeying, but on the 9th inst, 
a storm threatened, and the Signal Service announced 
a cool wave coming from the west. 

"To-morrow will be just the right time to start," 
said the judge ; and from his wise decisions we rarely 
think of taking an appeal. On Tuesday, the 10th of 
July, the sun was still obscured by clouds not yet ex- 
hausted by the previous day's rain ; but the dust had 
been effectually laid, and the air v/as many degrees 
cooler. 

Our party consisted of a lawyer, a doctor, the afore- 
mentioned judge, an old-time parson with new-time 
ideas, an amateur reporter with brand new note book 
and pencil, and lastly, but by no means leastly, our 
big horse Lexington. 

Our vehicle was too small, and too full, to allow any 
baggage inside ; so we had a little rack, which we 
called our annex, securely fastened on the rear, and 
there we strapped our valise with raiment enough for 
our daily wants, and also containing the doctor's med- 
icine case, and such instruments as might be needed 
in case of accident. 

Although starting under a cloud, we were a cheer- 
ful looking set. Everybod v recognized us as travelers, 

(7) 



8 THK WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

and always looked back a second time, as if we were 
a pleasant sight to their eyes, and they were loath to 
let us go. 

Out Broad street we went to old York road, built 
eighty years ago as a stage route between the two 
great cities. We passed through Branch town, City 
Line, Shoemakertown, and Jenkintown. The road 
seemed one continuous line of houses. 

At the first toll-gate Fanny Kemble's place was 
pointed out to us. We saw many elegant residences, 
and some that were very old. One bore the date of 
1793 and looked older than that. So many placer 
were for sale, it made one feel gloomy to think how 
many persons were anxious to get away from so much 
beauty and grandeur. 

"The fact is," said the judge, " a country seat is a 
lovely thing in imagination, but in reality a very ex- 
pensive piece of property ; it is inconvenient of access 
and lonely to live in." 

The doctor thought most of the places far too 
shaded for health. "The sun can't have a fair 
chance at the people. One might just as well try 
to grow potatoes in the light corner of a dark cellar, 
as to raise healthy children here," she said. 

We were not surprised when we saw a large well- 
filled graveyard in the near vicinity. 

Prominently, in the front row was this inscription : 
— "Ann Stevens, late relict of Jonathan — " 

This reminded our scribe of the autographic in- 
scription prepared on — 

" Priscilla P. Bedott, 

Late relict o' Hezikiah, 
• How melancholy was her lot, 

How soon she did expire." 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 9 

One of our party having strong Equal Rights 
proclivities, indignantly asked, "Whoever saw on a 
man's tombstone 'relict' of some woman?" 

The lawyer dryly remarked, " The men don't stay 
widowed long enough to be counted in that way." 

Another sight that soon excited our reporter, was a 
negro woman hoeing corn, while a lazy boy stood 
looking on. 

By this time the weather had brightened, a fine 
breeze had sprung up, we felt glad to be alive, and 
even the parson became facetious ; so, while the slow- 
going toll-man was making change, he remarked, 
"This is a fine day for the race ! " 

Quickly opening his ears the man asked, "What 
race, sir?" 

" The humau race," was the demure answer, as the 
parson picked up the reins and drove on. 

Late in the season as it seemed, there were many 
summer homes to rent. One of the most uninviting 
bore a placard to the effect that it would be rented 
cheaply, for the season at $i,ooo ; or for the whole 
year at $1,500. The judge said, " One had better, 
take twice the money and build himself a cottage 
at Sea Isle City, where he would have grand Old 
Ocean for scenery, salt sea bathing for a pastime, and 
fighting mosquitoes as a regular employment." 

As we went on the toll-gates seemed to grow more 
frequent as their keepers had less to do. Some- 
times the mother of the family tended the gate ; now 
and then it was a bright young girl ; more often it 
was an idle looking man, with a pipe in his mouth. 
We were glad to see one set a good example to his 
brethren by cobbling shoes between spells. The re- 



lO THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

porter, to whom the duty of paying was delegated, 
became so tired of having to find her pocket every 
little while, that she asked if they could not commute, 
pay all the way through, and have a certificate to that 
eflfect pasted across Lexington's nose. 

Our first halt was called at Willow Grove. We 
stopped for dinner. As we dashed up to the door a 
Dutch hostler rushed out and seized the bridle of the 
stately steed. Lex, indignant at such unwonted fa- 
miliarity in a stranger, seized the Dutchie by the arm 
and lifted him from the ground. They quit evenly 
then, except that one party bore the marks of the 
other's teeth for a good while. The attendants would 
hardly believe that so spirited a creature could be 
trusted to stand untied for almost any length of time 
with the reins thrown across the dasher. 

At the Mineral Springs Hotel we rested in the 
middle of the day, for three hours. The house was 
pleasant and the grounds charming, but the doctor 
thought them decidedly too damp, for the twenty and 
more city children boarders. 

While waiting for dinner, some of our party amused 
themselves listening to a rather queer old fellow of 
sixty-five years, a farmer of the neighborhood, who is 
looking out for a second wife. 

" The Lord only knows who she is to be," said he, 
"but I must have one." 

"My mother, 98 years old, lives with me, and 
says to me, says she, 'My boy you don't need an- 
other woman, I am still alive to take care of you.' " 

The disconsolate old fellow took out his red bandanna 
and wiped the tears from his eyes as he said : "I have 
lost lots of friends, and folks I knew ; I have buried 



THE WKST-BROOK DRIVES. II 

four children, and could spare my mother, but 
nothing ever struck me so hard as losing my wife." 

Some days afterwards, in a hotel a hundred miles 
nearer the source of the Delaware, we related this in- 
terview to an old gentleman of seventy-five, a rich 
widower from New York. The latter remarked, " I 
can well understand his feelings and sympathize with 
them. My children would be dreadfully put out if 
I should marry again ; and yet, I tell you, there are 
lots of things yOu can say to a wife which you can't 
tell to your children ;and so, a lcn2 man like me, has 
to keep many a thing locked up in his own breast." 

After our own comfortable dinner at Mineral Springs, 
and while waiting for Lexington to finish his, a car- 
riage drove up and a lady and gentleman alighted. 
The buggy was one of those high swung chariots, 
and in giving his hand to the lady descending from 
her lofty perch, the gentleman gave her such un- 
gracious, and so little support, that she fell heavily 
on her knees in a heap on the piazza. The landlord, 
who happened to be near us, quietly remarked, " It is 
evident they have been married sometime; I'll ven- 
ture he was more careful than that during the honey- 
moon." 

At four o'clock we sat out for Doylestown, the 
county seat of Bucks. In a population of less than 
two thousand, it has thirty-five lawyers, several 
doctors, nine churches, and five newspapers. The 
town is beautifully situated, high and dry in the midst 
of a rich agricultural district. On the way thither, 
we were kept constantly informed, not of the actual 
distance from Philadelphia, but from that renowned 
emporium. Oak Hall. The white posts planted at 



12 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

short distances, told us ; and we knew, like Sheridan, 
we were so many " miles away." 

The day was no longer cloudy, nor yet too warm. 
Everything, so lately washed by the showers, was 
fresh and bright, and our delighted eyes ranged over a 
wide and varied landscape, "Where every prospect 
pleases. ' ' 

In a large field * ' fully ripe and ready for the har- 
vest," we saw a No. 12 Osborne reaper and binder 
driven by a man, drawn by three horses abreast, and 
followed by two black dogs. The machine reaped the 
wheat, raked it, made it into bundles, and tied 
them. The lawyer, somewhat given to the marvelous, 
said he had already heard of one that did the thresh- 
ing as it went along, and he had no doubt one would 
ere long be invented that would also grind the grain 
and make it into bread; "and distribute the loaves 
among the multitude," added the parson. 

In striking contrast to this scene was an old man 
with thin, streaming, white locks, and wearing tow- 
linen trowsers of half a century ago, slowly and sadly 
cradling in the old-fashioned way. 

After a good night's rest and an early breakfast at 
the Fountain House, we set out for Easton, the 
principal town in Northampton county. We passed 
a brown-stone quarr>',and the roads thereabouts had 
the same rich hue. The houses in that part 
were of wood, and not at all pretentious ; but a 
garden wall and pig-pen had brown-stone fronts, 
funnily reminding one of the Fifth Avenue and New 
York City. We met with a singular name not far off; 
it was Hogincamp. The name was a misnomer, for 
it designated a very affable and generous gentleman. 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 1^ 

One of the greatest pleasures of a rural journey is 
the pure, fresh air — the feeling that you have room 
enough to breathe. It has been found that there 
is more money per capita in city than in country, 
but the reverse is true of the oxygen. When you 
take a deep breath in the country you will feel as if 
you had inhaled something substantial, and that it 
will do you good all the days of your life. 

At the top of a long brown hill, we descried a 
dainty little figure in the fashionable crushed-straw- 
berry shade. It proved to be a little bare-foot girl, with 
a basket of eggs, which she was going to exchange for 
a bottle of kerosene. A life-size horse and wagon, 
used as a weather-vane, on top of a barn, was another 
picturesque and striking thing in the distance. 

As we went further away from the large towns, the 
people seemed to grow more careless of external ap- 
pearances. The fences were shabby, the outbuildings 
ready to tumble, and the weeds were allowed to smoth- 
er the flowers by the road-side. 

The people, however, were more simple hearted, 
"child-like and bland." They invariably bowed 
and spoke to us. Slowly going teams would turn 
out for us and obligingly allow us to pass them. 

Between Red Hill Hotel and Riegelsville, in Bucks 
County, we first caught sight of the lovely Delaware. 
Our route thence lay with high hills and mountains 
on our left, and river and "raging canawl" to the 
right. — The soil was light and poor, yet far better 
than it is in many parts where the fields look much 
more fruitful. We thought it only needed Landis 
to make it another Vineland. We found too a vacancy 
for sparrows. Not one did we see after leaving Doyles- 



14 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

town, yet there was plenty of work for them to do. 
Many trees were literally covered with worms. 

Several women with short dresses were harvesting 
with the men and seemed to do just as much work. 
They were only paid half the wages, of course. 

The lawyer said if these women were strong enough 
to work like that, they ought to be able to vote, and 
even to study at the University. The doctor thought 
they certainly should be free to do whatever they 
could do, and wished to do. "Take off the tram- 
mels ; let the oppressed go free," was the consensus 
of opinion in our crowd. 

Passing through one village, we noticed its hotel 
was kept by one Barrell, and as if to add significance 
to the name, numerous barrels and small kegs were 
scattered about. The people, the male portion, had 
mostly bleared eyes, and ruddy noses, bloated features 
and ragged clothes, a slouching gait and downcast 
look, as if they had lost all self-respect. It is amaz- 
ing that multitudes are to be found willing to make 
such guys of themselves, and especially to spoil their 
noses, and to forego every comfort in life in order to 
aggrandize one set, and that not the best, of their 
fellows. 

The houses thereabouts were poor and mean, 
as drunkard's homes are wont to be. In lieu of or- 
naments, empty bottles and musty kegs stood as 
mementoes of departed cash. 

There was one opulent establishment in the village. 
It belonged to the man who made the beer and 
doctored the whisky that had filled the barrels and 
bottles whence these drunkards drew their degrada- 
tion. 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. I5 

" Cherries are ripe, cherries are ripe, 
Give the baby some." 

But we had no cherries. Nobody offered us any. 
We did not like to ask, and disdained to steal. Once, 
however, the temptation got the best of our virtue. 
Thinking we had missed our way, the reporter went 
into a house to inquire. The luscious fruit hung in 
clusters of little crimson globes over the garden fence. 
The branches were within easy reach of the waiting 
carriage. The judge took the law into his own hands, 
as indeed, it almost seemed he had the right to do. 
He broke off the tender twigs of that tree, till, when 
the reporter returned with her information, he had a 
real feast before us. Like that misguided couple, in 
the ancient story, we took and ate. 

Those cherries were of the black -heart variety, and 
soon our gloves and fingers, lips and teeth, were ter- 
ribly discolored. So we, too, bore the marks of our 
transgression, and when we met our kind, we hid our- 
selves behind our handkerchiefs. We laughed at each 
other in dismay. Happily, we came at last to a liv- 
ing, running stream, and gladly plunging in, washed 
all the stain of our sin away. 

The parson was inclined to *' improve the occasion" 
as the ministers say, by a little sermon on the natural 
consequences of wrong doing. Bach sin, he said, had 
its own appropriate punishment, and there was no 
way of escaping the results of our acts. Everj'body 
must work out his own salvation. He said we might 
have prayed till we were dumb, and yet our lips would 
have remained black till we ourselves used the means 
to cleanse them. 



l6 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

The Delaware river, swollen by the annual Summer 
floods, was being extensively used for the transporta- 
tion of lumber. This was done by means of rafts, 
made by fastening the logs themselves together. One 
of our party, when a boy, had floated down to Phila- 
delphia in this way. That was years and years ago. 
Since then he has made his mark in the city of 
brotherly love, as a brilliant orator, an eloquent ad- 
vocate, and an original and successful author. 

Bridges over the tributaries of the Delaware are 
built in a very substantial way to stand the strain of 
the Spring floods in this region. One that we noticed 
bore on the key-stone of its arch the date "A.D. 
1813," and looked as if it might be there a hundred 
years hence. This was quite a contrast to a bridge we 
crossed a year ago over a similar stream in Blair 
county, at the foot of the AUeghanies. The latter 
bridge was washed away, as a regular thing, every 
April, and rebuilt at considerable expense and great 
inconvenience, every May. It was always constructed 
to suit the calmer exigencies of the Summer-time, and 
not those of the stormy periods, by which it was in- 
variably carried away. The conversation naturally 
turned upon bridges, and those of us who had travelled 
or read, had each something to tell. One had recently 
heard of a bridge in China, of curious construction, 
longer than the Brooklyn bridge, and still standing 
after the lapse of a thousand years. The doctor 
thought none of these so wonderful as the great I/on- 
don bridge, built in 1700, with dwelling houses — a 
double row — three stories high, having their cellars 
within the piers, and on their lofty roofs were stately 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 17 

platforms, ornamented with rails and balusters, en- 
closing pretty gardens, with arbors and walks, from 
which the residents viewed the river prospect. 

Thus, as we rode along, scenes and tales, from other 
lands and times mingled with those of the delightfully 
present now. Buttonwood trees abounded here, and 
we were informed that this is the ancient sycamore of 
the Bible. The minister told us that, and he quoted 
from an old New England primer — 

'* Zacheus he did climb a tree, 
His Lord and Master for to see." 

We never saw anywhere such numbers of large 
black walnut trees. The chestnut trees too, were 
numerous, and with their gracefully pendant, golden 
adornments, and long, dark green, shining leaves, 
were in their fullest glory. 

The mountains in Northampton county are rich in 
iron and limestone. We passed the iron works of the 
late Peter Cooper and his son-in-law, Hewitt. Here 
also were many kilns for the preparation of lime. 
These products were being transported mostly by canal. 
The judge quoted: 

" First marched the heavy mules securely slow, 
O'er rocks, o'er rills, o'er crags and dales they go ; " 

and then comes the canal-boat, with its loads of iron 
and lime, and coal. 

A cut on the Belvidere railroad had left a portion 
of the massive rock, looking, for all the world, like 
one of the old castles on the Rhine. 

It was nearly noon, on our second day out, that we 
came upon a deserted village. We had seen a dilapi- 
dated tavern sign swinging in the distance, and we 
said among ourselves, " we will rest there till the heat 



1 8 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

of the day is past. ' ' Lexington too, hastened his pace ; 
for he saw water and feed in prospect. 

With difficulty we lifted the rusty old Dutch door- 
latch. It fell back with a heavy, empty sound. We 
pounded on the door but nobody was home, and had 
not been for a long while. The neighbors, too, were 
either all dead or moved away. We saw no living 
soul ; only ghosts of the past held high carnival there. 

The lawyer, whom I strongly suspect, was himself 
a little thirsty, declared that was the effect of " local 
option." It seems to be in the constitution of things, 
that every great reform must do damage somewhere. 
As Bismark once said — " You cannot make an ome- 
let without breaking some eggs." And the parson 
remarked, one of high Christian authority said, "If 
meat causeth my brother to offend, I will eat no more 
meat while the world stands." 

There was no help for it. We were obliged to trot 
on towards Easton, which we did, arriving there just 
in time for a fine dinner. A quiet nap followed, and 
then we drove out to see the town and Lafayette 
College. 

The latter institution holds, literally, an exalted 
position. High above the rush of railroad and river, 
the turmoil of worldly strife and ambition, it looks 
over and beyond them all, up to serener heights and 
towards a clearer sky. ' * It would be, ' ' the judge said, 
"the ideal site for a school of transcendental phi- 
losophy, like that of Concord, where an evolution was 
lately defined as consisting of 'a simultaneous differ- 
entiation and integration, emerging from a primitive 
universal homogenity.' " 

Lafayette, however, was planned by common-sense 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 1 9 

men, who had no conception of these lofty things. It 
was started some half century ago as a manual labor 
school, where the poor lad, by working a part of his 
time, might pay for his own tuition. 

The father of our judge was at that time a member of 
the Pennsylvania Legislature, and worked earnestly 
for the establishment and welfare of the new college. 
It was this same Legislator, who, in A.D. 1842, then 
a member of Congress, had, under Tyler, a woman, 
the widow of a postmaster, appointed the first post- 
mistress in these United States of America. 

The parson had personally known several of La- 
fayette's presidents. One was a Presbyterian minister, 
a bitter partisan in the quarrel that separated that 
church into North and South, one who could control 
other folks' boys but not his own. He had a dissi- 
pated son, who on the day of his graduation, was 
brought home dead drunk in a wheelbarrow. An- 
other was the originator or operator of the famous 
" morus multicaulis speculation." This was the 
propagation of a species of mulberry for the feeding 
of silk worms. Large fortunes were made from it, 
but many of the over credulous lost all they had. 
The whole scheme having no real foundation, tumbled 
at last. One noble president, devoting all his time 
and strength to the advancement of the college, made 
it the great success we find it to-day. President 
Catell sacrificed his health on the altar of that success, 
and was obliged to retire from active work. A new 
name now heads the list of the faculty ; and another, 
a younger and a stronger man, has entered into the 
results of his labors. 

The college grounds have been greatly enlarged and 



20 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

beautified. Private beneficence has poured wealth 
into the treasury. Buildings, elegant and commo- 
dious, for special purposes, have been built by differ- 
ent individuals. One handsome hall was pointed out, 
donated by a gentleman who has since been reduced 
to poverty, and has hardly where to lay his head. 

In descending the long steep hill, our steed, gen- 
erally so well behaved, but probably unduly elated by 
having been to college, elevated his hind heels and 
came near kicking over the traces. For a little while 
there was a sharp contest, and a strong prospect that 
we should return to town in John Gilpin style. 

On a prominent corner in the city of Easton we 
observed the building belonging to the "Young 
Men's Christian Association " had a wine and liquor 
store in its basement. Some of us thought it a very 
inconsistent and unusual thing. The parson agreed 
that it was inconsistent, but not at all unusual, many 
of the bishopricks in England being entirely supported 
by rents from houses of revel and debauchery. — 

"You see," said the lawyer, "these young men 
have taken it into their heads to fight the devil on 
their own ground." 

Lexington's driver thought if he was still so antic, 
he could not be too tired to proceed on the journey, 
which at five o'clock we accordingly did. Our road 
lay close to the river, and for the first five miles out 
was the most shockingly bad road we ever saw. The 
recently heavy rains had washed the stones bare, and 
they were loose and rolling. Deep gullies had been 
cut, and in many cases the banks had slid away. The 
continual jolting became not only monotonous, but 
actually painful, and we looked anxiously for a stop- 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 21 

ping place. There were frequent houses on one side 
of the way ; but they were small and shabby, and 
dirty children and pigs, and dogs, were in" the fore- 
ground. We met a butcher with his cart, and in- 
quired if he could direct us to a good hotel for the 
night. He, greatly to our joy, informed us we were 
almost in sight of two. He strongly recommended 
the nearer one. A woman and a boy with a basket of 
berries, resting by the roadside, were not far off, and 
thinking in a multitude of counsellors there might be 
safety, we asked her advice. " Stop at the farther 
one, by all means," she said. 

Arriving at the first, we saw the landlord out on 
the stoop, his shirt sleeves rolled up, filling a cracked 
cup with grog for an old tipsy fellow who looked, the 
parson said, "as if he was past being prayed for." 
That one glance satisfied us, and we went on to the 
next hotel, fearing meanwhile, that it might be no 
better. Before we reached it, the judge recognized 
the eddy in the river where his raft had stopped forty- 
five years before. "If the hotel should only prove to 
be Sandt's, where I stayed with my father ; but that 
cannot be," he said, with a half-drawn sigh. 

Yet sure enough, it was the same old solid stone 
house, modernized, it is true, with a mansard roof and 
a new proprietor. In fact there were two proprietors, 
brothers, married to German sisters, who were not 
above doing the work and keeping things neat and 
clean. There was a third sister, the waiter girl, and 
also a waiter man. It was easy to see they were mak- 
ing love to each other. 

The brothers and sisters looked on the courtship 
with evident approbation, thinking doubtless of the 



22 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

time when all should be united in one firm, and there 
would no longer be any wages to pay out for services. 

The house was nearly full of city boarders, but they 
managed to give us comfortable accommodations for 
the night. 

The moon was nearly at its full, and brightly shone 
on hill and river when we went to rest. About mid- 
night we were astonished at being awakened by a 
pouring rain, and we anticipated a dismal morrow ; 
but in the morning, when we again awoke, the river 
was laughing in the sunshine, and the ripples sparkled 
as they hurried on towards Philadelphia and the ocean. 

In leaving Sandt's Eddy, we had a bug-bear before 
us, and rather a big one too. The bridge over Martin's 
creek had been carried away, we were told, and only 
a temporary, rough, substitute put into its place. 
Some horses refused to go over it at all ; and in that 
event it was necessary to unharness, and get them 
through the water as best one could, then return and 
bring the carriage over by hand. 

How often it happens that we suffer more by fore- 
bodings than from the trouble when it really comes. 
The dread of that bridgeless creek quite spoiled the 
ride, till we reached it. Then everybody but the 
driver alighted from the carnage. Lexington looked 
very suspiciously at the queer conglomeration of stones 
and wood he was expected to walk over, but with a 
few encouraging words and gentle coaxing, he did it, 
and we went gaily "on to Richmond" in Penn- 
sylvania. 

Squirrels were breakfasting on cherries, and the rab- 
bits in the road were so unscared by our coming that 
" Their lameness was shocking to me." 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 2$ 

At the village of Portland we began to comprehend 
something of what " the Water Gap" means. But 
not till we had passed over the two-and-a-half miles 
which lay between that village and the Kittatiny 
House did we begin to realize the grandeur of this 
geological phenonenon. How was it done ? What 
cut through the solid mountain this path for the 
waters ? Was the chasm caused by one mighty earth- 
quake eruption, or was it done during millions of 
years by the immense gradual pressure of a mighty 
lake on the slowly yielding stratum of rock ? 

Mr. Brodhead, in his book on the Delaware Water 
Gap, says the Indian name "Minisink," for the 
Pennsylvania side of the mountain, meaning " the 
water is gone, ' ' would indicate some tradition confirm- 
ing this lake theory. 

At Portland they warned us that we only had twenty 
minutes in which to drive through the Gap before 
trains would be due. 

The railroad is a very great convenience. All the 
same it is a great nuisance. It has spoiled much of 
the primitive beauty here, and besides, when one goes 
out, as the hart goeth "panting after the water 
brooks," he does not desire to come in contact with 
the smoke of bitumen, nor to have his ears split by 
the shrill screeching of the steam whistle. The 
danger, too, is really considerable. 

The carriage road hugs the side of the mountain at 
an elevation, in some parts, of two or three hundred 
feet. The railroad runs along the river, and a preci- 
pice lies between. If a horse takes fright, he could 
not go higher up, he would be hardly likely to run 
toward the thing that scared him, he certainly could 



24 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

not be supposed to stand still, and the only thing left 
to do would be to attempt to turn back, in which case 
going over the dreadful declivity would be inevit- 
able. 

The judge said we should really be in less danger 
going to Europe ; for, in a Cunarder, everything is 
arranged for all sorts of emergencies and the whole 
governed by fixed laws ; while here we were at the 
caprice of an unreasoning animal. 

We were just about two-thirds of the way through 
when the prompt whistle announced the approach of 
the express train in the rear, and just then we saw in 
front of us a freight train thundering along on the 
down grade. They passed each other exactly beside 
and below us. Lexington looked at them, gave a 
little snort of recognition, and kept on in the even 
tenor of his way, while we, the reporter at least, 
breathed more freely. 

Safely arrived at the Kittatiny, we received a wel- 
come unusually warm and sincere, even at a hotel. 
One of our party was a distant cousin of the gentle- 
manly proprietors. They had been advised of our 
approach ; our baggage, by express, was already there ; 
our rooms spacious, cool and comfortable, and at once 
we felt at home. 

There indeed, at the Water Gap nature has been 
lavish of her lovelinesss. The wild and novel scenery 
was a perpetual surprise to us. The hotel piazzas that 
nearly surround the house, seem specially adapted to 
wooing and detaining every delicious breeze. We 
were glad to be alive. The little steamboat, named 
after the house, was a curiosity. It was built at a cost 
of S2,200 in Bristol, R. I. Its officers are a captain 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 25 

and an engineer, and they take you a round trip of 
half an hour for twenty-five cents. The boat can 
carry about fifty people. Perhaps the most impressive 
view of all, is had from the boat on the river. There 
you can better appreciate the height of the mountain 
on either side, the gracefully serpentine course of the 
water, and the width of the chasm it has made. 

A long list of pleasant sails, and walks, and drives, 
is given you, together with a little map of the paths 
leading to the principal views. We chose first to go 
to G. W. Child's arbor and glen, a glimpse of which 
we had caught, hanging on the mountain side, as we 
drove up from Portland. The distinguished Phila- 
delphia editor was an old acquaintance of the parson ; 
and we were curious to see how he had embellished 
some natural attractions of the Gap. 

The path was good, and hard and smooth, but the 
hour was nearly noon. The way was long and warm. 
The judge was grown too stout for walking and climb- 
ing dizzy heights. He took oft his coat, and, al- 
though we advised him to carry it on his arm, he con- 
fidingly hung it on a tree and went on. On past 
Council rock and to Winona cliff we went. There we 
rested at the spot where the Indian princess, deserted 
by her white lover, leaped to her death. In a rustic 
bower we found a gay company celebrating the birth- 
day of one of their number. They were pledging his 
health in ice-cold lemonade, and invited us to join 
them. The polite judge apologized for appearing at 
the festivities with one of the conventional garments 
of a gentleman missing. Childs' place was still at 
least a half mile away. Many persons were passing 



26 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

to and fro. Some of them did not look over honest. 
Beginning to realize how inconvenient and awkward 
it would be to be parted from his coat altogether, so 
far away from home and supplies, the judge became 
uneasy, and proposed a postponement of the remainder 
of our morning excursion. 

We walked rapidly down till we thought we had 
passed over the distance at which we left the coat be- 
hind. No sign of it appeared. At about double the 
distance we espied it hanging on a taller tree. Some 
practical joker must have moved it for the very fun of 
the thing. The taller tree was probably selected to 
indicate the length of time we had trusted it alone. 
The tree had grown some in the interval 1 



A DRIVE BY THE DELAWARE. 

CHAPTER 11. 

FROM START TO FINISH (Continued.) 

Seated on the Kittatiny piazza we noticed a very 
familiar figure and face. Who she was we could not 
recall. 

' ' Where have we seen her ? " we asked each other. 
At last we thought we had solved the problem. 

"It is Langtry, " we said confidently ; "yes, the 
same figure, complexion, eyes and hair." 

* ' How strange ! She seems to recognize us, too. 
See ! she is talking of us now to that dark, stylish 
looking lady beside her." 

" They approach." 

Langtry extended her hand with the cordiality of 
an old acquaintance. 

"Do you not remember me? I was a pupil of 
yours at P — F — College — my maiden name S — K — ' ' 

Twenty-three years ago ! nearly a quarter of a 
century since we had met ! And we had lived in the 
same city for seven years, and for two years within 
two blocks of each other ! 

One of the amusements of which people seem never 
to tire is dancing and seeing dancing-graceful figures 

moving to melodious measure. And yet dancing is 

(27) 



28 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

far from being made as enjoyable and beneficial as 
it might be. 

The ladies, the young girls, and children, were ex- 
quisitely arrayed. The large, square ballroom was 
brilliantly lighted, a violinist, pianist, and cornetist, 
discoursed sweetly inspiriting music. 

The male portion of the guests were in the billiard 
or barroom, or sitting smoking on the balconies, or 
peering in at the windows, with fingers clinging to 
the stump of a strong cigar. Many of them, who 
passed for gentlemen at home, wore colored chintz 
or woolen shirts, and nondescript jackets, making 
them look like porters or stevedores. We did not 
wonder they felt like slinking out of sight, "not 
having on the wedding garments." 

The result was that when the orchestra played the 
Grand March, everybody sat still ; when No. 2, the 
waltz, was played, about- half a dozen little tots, 
that should have been kissed and sent to bed, oc- 
cupied the floor. When the I^ancers struck up, some 
very pretty young ladies appeared, one half of the 
forlorn set with handkerchiefs tied around their arms 
to indicate that they were gentlemen's substitutes ! 
And so on, through waltz and quadrille, and racquet 
and reel. 

Nature intended men and women, boys and girls, 
to be companions for each other. It is sad to see 
one sex sacrifice every refinement of manner, habits, 
and dress, and all the sweet amenities of social life, 
to the common craze for physical development. — 
And often, too, in the same connection, he sacrifices 
health of body and purity of soul, to indulgencies in 
the manly (?) vices. 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 29 

If *' roughing it " is decided upon as the summer 
programme of one part of the family, let it be for 
all. Short linsey-woolsey or calico dresses, thick 
boots, and straw hats, would fairly correspond with 
the male sporting costume. Let the two sexes take 
their recreation together. "It is not good for man 
to be alone," nor woman either. 

The Kittatiny had many charming features that 
might well be imitated by other hotels. The table 
is remarkably good, the attendants seem devoted to 
your special personal comfort. Everything is un- 
usually clean. There is a notable absence of flies. 

The sewage is carried off by a water power that 
would constitute a " mill privilege" in Rhode Island, 
and run one or two woolen or cotton factories. Yet 
even in this paradise there was a serpent, in fact two 
or three serpents. 

The omnipresent smoker was there. Day and 
night he polluted every breath of heaven. Some of 
the smokers were so completely filled with the 
effluvia, that even when not actually smoking, and 
you were compelled to sit beside them, they nar- 
cotized you. 

We heard of one who acknowledged he smoked to 
excess. His doctors told him he must stop it. He 
did not until he fell stricken with paralysis. To 
get the poison out of his system Turkish baths 
were recommended. After six weeks of abstinence, 
his shampooers complained, he was so saturated with 
tobacco that the odor of his perspiration was sickening. 

If these people could only be allowed to kill them- 
selves off without infliction upon their innocent 
neighbors, or entailing untold sufiering upon their 



3© THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

own posterity, it would seem a great mercy to 
humanity. 

We noticed one pale little boy baby, whose proud 
father carried him in his arms, and at the same 
time a constant cigar in his mouth. We wanted to 
tell him of a case we had, where a bad father, to 
spite the mother, puffed cigar smoke in the baby's 
face till the child went into convulsions and died. 

We do not mean to single out any one hotel as 
worse than all others in the use, or rather abuse of 
tobacco. Unfortunately they are nearly all alike in 
this respect. — 

The average man, off on a pleasure trip, seems to 
vibrate between the two extremes of alcoholic stimu- 
lation and nicotine narcotism. First a dram, then a 
smoke. His coat of arms should be a pitcher of ale 
and a pipe of tobacco. To all such we would quote 
Paul's first letter to the Corinthians: "Know ye 
not that ye are the temple of God, and that the 
Spirit of God dwelleth in you ? If any man defile 
the temple of God, him shall God destroy ; for the 
temple of God is Holy, which temple ye are." 

At Cresson Springs on the Alleghanies, at the 
Ocean View on Block Island, and elsewhere, the 
children have a dining-room, a play-ground, a play- 
room, and parlor, all to themselves. Grown people, 
old bachelors, invalids, and nervous folk, are at 
liberty to go where the children hold high carnival. 
They can see them in their romps and noisy games 
and hear the babies cry if they wish to. It is per- 
fectly optional. They are not obliged to endure, 
running over and around them, skates and veloci- 
pedes. They need not have a quiet conversation 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 3 1 

interrupted, nor the mid-day music spoiled, by the 
children's frolics. This we think is as it should be. 
From the very first, children should be taught not 
to annoy, nor to trample on the rights, and interfere 
with the comforts of others. And when the children 
come into the grown up peoples' quarters they 
should conform to the old-fashioned rule. They 
should be seen but not heard to any great extent. 

Among the oldest settlers and most remarkable 
families at the Delaware Water Gap and in the 
Minisink region, we find the Brodheads and West- 
brooks. A part of the original purchase made by one 
Daniel Brodhead in. A. D., 1737, is still owned and 
occupied by one of his descendants of the seventh 
generation. 

Theodore Brodhead, one of the sixth generation, 
met with a tragic death from the hands of a tramp. 
He had been over to New York, and was strongly 
urged to remain, but he declined on the ground that 
he had promised his wife to be home that night. 
Seated upon the veranda of the hotel, he was enjoy- 
ing the twilight, surrounded by his family, when his 
brother came to tell him that two men had robbed 
his store and just gone down the road. 

Theodore had noticed them passing hurriedly 
along, and together the brothers started in pursuit. 
They came upon the robbers just behind the barn, 
counting and dividing their spoil. Soon the friends 
at the house heard pistol shots from that direction. 
A nephew and some others ran to their assistance, 
but were only in time to catch the dying form of 
Theodore, as he staggered toward them and fell dead 
in their arms. 



33 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

The name Brodhead must have been g^ven origin- 
ally on account of their being broad across the fore- 
head. It still seems to be a marked feature among 
them. Those of them who cultivate their brains, 
those who think and study deeply, have a firmness of 
texture about the head which is very noticeable. The 
men of this family are distinguished for their noble 
physical development, their firmness of will, their 
persistence of purpose, their broad views of things, 
their capacity for taking in new ideas, their great 
self respect, and their devotion to their wives. No 
consideration could induce a Brodhead to do a mean 
thing. 

The Westbrook family, with whom the Brodheads 
at one time intermarried, are more delicately or- 
ganized, have finer and quicker perceptions, are 
more spiritual, more indignantly resentful, more im- 
pulsively generous, and more ardent as lovers. — 

But their anger soon cools, their generosity is less 
consistent, and their intensity dies out. Their 
frankness is complete. They really have no con- 
cealment. Brave and hopeful in the extreme, they 
never lose courage. If left on a plank in mid-ocean 
they'd fully expect to reach the shore. They have 
no patience with inefficient people. Those plodders 
who forever are doing a thing, and never getting it 
done, had better keep out of their way. I believe 
they respect the story in Genesis more because it 
represents the Creator as finishing an immense 
amoimt of work in six days, and resting absolutely 
on the seventh. 

They will delay a piece of work until it really 
must be done, and then get it off their hands in such 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 33 

a little while you wonder they ever stopped to dread 
it. When they begin a thing it is already half done. 
They remind one of the old woman's gnu that went 
off so quickly. She said, " it wasn't fifteen minutes 
after you see the blue smoke arise, no, not half that 
time, before bang went the gun ! " 

Both these families are of English origin, although 
the latter came to this country by way of Holland. 
One was sent on State business ; the other sought 
on free soil, " Freedom to worship God." Curiously 
enough the descendants of the one are still politicians 
and statesmen ; the descendants of the other are more 
inclined to piety and religion. The two families, 
in combination, have produced some of the most de- 
lightful characters, and developed some of the most 
desirable qualities, 

A curious fatality seems to attend the wedding 
day, yet many survive it, and some there are who 
wish they had not. One of the saddest and strangest 
of these coincidences happened while we were at the 
Water Gap. A bride and groom, within an hour of 
their nuptials, started on their wedding tour in a 
buggy. They came to a stream of water at which 
the young man tried to make the horse drink. The 
horse, although evidently thirsty, refused. Think- 
ing to facilitate matters, the groom took off the 
horse's bridle. Still he would not drink. His 
master concluded to go to a house near by and bor- 
row a bucket. While he was gone the horse took 
fright. The bridle being off, the young lady had no 
means of holding the horse. He ran away, upset the 
carriage, and killed her. 

Speaking of this sad event to a lonely wife, whose 



34 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

absent husband found ever ready excuses for staying 
away from her side, she said it was far better so. 
To die while hope, and trust, and love, were fresh, 
was an enviable lot, in the place of living to see 
them one by one depart, leaving only the ashes of 
desolation on the devoted heart. ''She has," said 
this unhappy woman, "escaped the dread time 

' When the witchery goes that made her seem lovely to-day : 
When love's thought of her loses it coleur de rose, 
And every day serves some new fault to disclose.' " 

The Delaware Water Gap seems to be the objective 
point, the goal of many bicycle excursionists. The 
first one who came after our arrival, was a young 
man, almost a boy, he looked. He had come all the 
way from Mount Hope, a distance of fifty-five miles, 
alone, in a single day. He said he was not tired, and 
had not been a bit lonesome. The next was a party 
of eight from New York City. They had mounted 
their machines at Port Jervis, and were getting on 
splendidly when one of their number, the heaviest 
man of the set, carelessly fell. Beyond a sprained 
finger, he did not think himself hurt, until he had 
walked some distance. He then discovered that he 
had injured his knee and skinned his shin. They 
hired a horse and wagon to bring him and his bicycle 
the rest of the way. The next day, when a slight 
inflammation of the patella had set in and his bruises 
began to feel sore, and he grew lame, he was one of 
the most forlorn-looking fellows any one could wish 
to see. The Doctor, out of womanly sympathy, ex- 
amined his wounds and prescribed for them. She 
saw he was terribly nervous and apprehensive ; and 
when he confided to her his great fear that erysipe- 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 35 

las would set in and carry him off, she soothed and 
reassured him by giving him both a placebo and a 
prophylactic, and then wisely hastened his departure 
for his home and his mother. 

Standing in a doorway of the new hotel on the 
hill, a young fellow was begging his father to let him 
go fishing. The parent was a red-faced, choleric- 
looking individual, who could hardly spare his cigar 
from his mouth long enough to answer sternly : 

"No, it's no use asking; and you needn't pout 
about it, either. You just get yourself wet, and burn 
your face, and spoil your clothes, all for nothing. 
You never do catch a fish." 

" And then, there is the danger of getting drowned, 
my sou," said a pale, anxious-looking, little lady, 
who stood beside him. 

That quiet remark seemed to settle the matter ; and 
the father, his brusque manner entirely changed, 
turned and said : "See here, boy ! you go get the 
bait ready, and the lines and things, and put on your 
old clothes, and we'll both go." 

The result was a short time afterward we saw the 
two take a boat and row out to a shady nook, where 
they cast out their lines and waited for their prey. 
Toward evening we saw them winding their way up 
the hill, proudly bearing a string of black bass and 
eels. 

In the grounds across the road was a pair of 
turkeys. The hen turkey wore drab, and looked as 
modest and demure as any Quaker. The male was 
unusually brilliant. He was always on the strut, 
displaying his fine feathers to the fullest extent. 
There was one excuse for this, the boys were always 



36 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

teasing him, and he felt obliged to be always on the 
defensive. We were really afraid those boys would 
spoil his disposition. They could hardly let him 
alone, his vanity was so conspicuous, and so amus- 
ing. He won our respect at last. On Sunday after- 
noon a sudden shower came up. A single shrub, on 
their plot of ground, afforded shelter for one. 
Thither he gallantly took the hen, and stood unsel- 
fishly beside her, himself in the dripping rain, a 
credit and an example to his sex. 

" How do you account for the prejudice against the 
Jews?" we asked. "I do not account for it," was 
the preacher's unexpected answer. "For centuries 
they were the sole custodians of the Hebrew scrip- 
tures out of which the Christian scriptures grew. 
The Jesus of the Christians was a Jew, and yet 
Christians everywhere snub the Jews. " 

We met this season some of the nicest Jews we 
have ever seen. iVmong them was a boy with a face 
of the most characteristic type. He was about 
twelve years old, and looked as King David might 
have looked at that tender age. 

On Sunday evenings it is the custom of the 
piously inclined to gather in the amusement room 
and sing Gospel hymns, Moody and Sanky, and Bliss 
tunes. One of the ladies played these on the piano 
in a most charming manner. Nearly all the children 
in the house patronized these sacred concerts, and 
foremost among them was this young David. He 
was indeed a sweet singer in Israel. He had a good 
voice, and sang with the spirit if not with the under- 
standing. To hear that little circumcised creature 
roll out with unction the words : 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 37 

" Hallelujah 'tis done, 

I believe on the son, 

I'm saved by the blood of the crucified one," 

was a performance at which our parson himself could 
not help smiling. 

Passing through one of the adjoining parlors, we 
noticed his relatives and other of his race, seated at 
a table enjoying a quiet game and sipping some in- 
nocent beverage, not at all concerned lest this scion 
of their house should be corrupted and become an 
apostate. 

A baby two years old that had already learned 
German from his nurse Fredelina, interested ui 
greatly. He could count correctly up to twenty. 

The moon was at its full, and in its silvery light 
the river scenery was most lovely. Another German 
used to sing in his broken ringing way : 

" O de beautiful, de beautiful, de river." 

Somebody accounting for the creation of the moon 
said, Nature somehow found out that lovers would 
need a softer and a sweeter light, and so she made 
the moon. 

"Come, meet me by moonlight alone," 

we heard a dark-eyed stranger whisper to a fair young 
girl. But her vigilant mamma heard it too, and put 
a stop to their meeting anywhere. 

Sunday's rain had passed and Monday morning 
dawned. The dry earth had drunk its fill. Fresh- 
ness and beauty gleamed on every side. Millions 
of dew and rain drops were flashing in the early sun, 
when after a royal breakfast we bade good-bye to our 
newly-found friends at the Kittatiny and resumed 
our journey. 



38 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

Onward and upward was our motto, up and along 
the banks and braes of the bonny Delaware. 

We soon left Monroe county and entered Pike. 
One of our party first saw the light of day in Pike 
county, That was in the year 1820. He had spent 
his youth and early manhood there, and every spot 
was full of reminiscences. 

Passing a building that looked neither like a 
church nor a school house, but was probably used for 
both purposes, he told us the following story : 

"A Mr. Blank, famous as a great revivalist, was 
holding a meeting there. At a proper time in his 
exercises, the minister paused and solemnly invited 
all those who desired a change of heart to come for- 
ward to the altar. The people in that particular 
district were not noted for religious zeal and fervor. 
Everybody sat as if glued to his seat. 

"Mr. Blank exhorted some more, and again tried to 
induce them to come forward. It was no use. He 
then tried a dodge he had never known to fail, and 
said ; 

" ' Let all those who wish to go to Heaven arise in 
their places. ' 

"Not one arose ! 

"This angered the speaker perceptibly, and in 
vehement tones he shouted : 

" ' Let all those who wish to go to Hell arise.' 

"The most prominent man in the place, 'Squire 

, immediately arose and went out. One after 

another followed till the preacher was left alone with 
his wrath." 

Nothing could ever induce revivalist Blank to try 
that neighborhood again. 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 39 

The day beginning to wax warm we began to 
think of resting, and the hour approaching noon, the 
judge said it was "time for us to get our names into 
a dinner-pot somewhere." We bethought ourselves 

of the widow of Major , an old acquaintance, 

whose residence must be somewhere in that vicinity. 
We had promised a mutual friend not to pass her 
without calling. 

The place was difficult of access, being up a steep 
ascent, and off the main road ; but once there the 
location was sightly and superb. It had often been 
hinted, too, that the Major's dinners were sumptuous. 

We met a pleasant reception, and were cordially 
asked to stay. With a little polite pretence of hesi- 
tation we accepted. Lexington was the next con- 
sideration. The widow said the men-folks would be 
around soon and attend to him. Meantime Lex's 
master thought he would himself relieve the warm, 
weary creature of his harness. This he accomplished, 
and tied him with a long halter to a fence. The 
first thing Lex did was to lie down and roll, and 
smear himself on one side. He got up, shook him- 
self, laid down, and did the same thing on the other 
side. Then the judge thought he ought to have a 
little water, and led him down to the brook. On the 
way he tried to jump over the judge's head. 

About this time it was discovered that the men- 
folks had left for the day, "unbeknownst" to her, 
the widow said. Then the widow and the judge 
tried to find some oats for the horse. She said she 
could keep the run of things in the house, but she 
never knew where to find anything in the barn. 
The late lamented Major used to see to that, and 



40 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

now the boys took charge. The only thing that 
could be found for Lexington's delectation and re- 
freshment was a pan of cow feed. For some reason 
they could not take the horse into the stable, and 
they set the pan just inside the barn door, so he 
could take it standing outside. I^ex watched all 
these preparations with evident interest. We were 
watching them, and him, from the porch. When 
the judge took his halter from the fence and essayed 
to lead him to the feed, Lex gave one snort of de- 
light, and vaulted so high into the air that we saw 
every shoe on his hoofs. The judge said thosr 
antics were all in play, but we noticed he still 
looked a little white about the lips when he said it, 
and I know, my own heart almost stopped beating. 
When they had him fastened securely in the door- 
way, the wind blew the door against him. It was 
his turn to be scared then. The flies were numerous 
that day, and as Lex ate his meal he fought them 
with his nose now on this side now on that, till his 
dark shiny coat looked like a miller's. 

When he had emptied the pan of its contents, the 
judge looked for a curry comb and brush. The 
widow searched for them, too, but high up, nor low 
down, nothing of the kind could be found. One of 
the ladies sympathizing! y offered her own coarse 
comb and hair brush, but these were declined with 
thanks. Dirty as Lex was, we had to replace his 
harness. It was a laughable plight, but we did not 
feel like laughing. 

Having to take off the halter before putting on the 
bridle, was a serious matter. There were nine 
chances in ten he would get away from us in the 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 41 

Operation. We all helped, but at least one pair of 
hands trembled so, even the horse knew somebody 
was either afraid or had a stroke of paralysis. 

The judge is a splendid horseman, but his horse- 
manship does not extend to playing hostler. We 
resolved never to relieve Lex of his harness again 
without being sure there was a man near by to re- 
store it. 

At Bushkill we entered upon a road many miles in 
length, of adamantine hardness, and a smoothness 
like the drives through Fairmount Park. 

The mountain sides that slope down to the road 
are formed of gravel partly pulverized, and ready to 
be raked down for mending purposes. A gentleman 
who recently passed over this route said of it : — 
''Imagine all the delightful scenery in the vicinity 
of the lakes of Killarney, your roadway lying under 
arches of pine and hemlock, maple, willow and 
chestnut, with gleams of sunshine here and there, 
and birds incessantly singing in the branches, the 
river blue, and broad, and beautiful, sweeping along 
in the near distance, imagine all this, and you will 
have a faint idea of the drive down the Delaware 
Valley." 

It was surprising to learn how many distinguished 
men had been born in the county of Pike. It seems 
statistics show that more successful men have set out 
from there, more in proportion to the population, than 
from any other county in the State. 

Washington Irving once said : "It is a great ad- 
vantage to be born by the banks of a flowing river, 
or at the base of a lofty mountain, on account of the 
effect sublime scenes have upon the head and heart, 
upon the intellectual and the moral nature." 



42 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

Here the river and the mountains are combined ; 
and both may have contributed toward the elevation 
of her sons and daughters. 

Some of the richest soil and most productive lands 
are here. One farm the judge showed us with a sigh, 
saying it might have been his to-day, had not a dear 
ancestor been too generous hearted for his own good, 
and unable to say "no" when he ought to. En- 
dorsing for friends resulted, as it often does, in finan- 
cial ruin. 

The doctor, who, the judge says, has a decided 
opinion on every subject under the sun, said, "No 
one, who cannot give some collateral as security, 
should ever presume to ask such a favor of a friend. 
There ought to be companies for going security, just 
the same as for insurance." The lawyer said such 
corporations had been formed, but he seemed unable 
to tell just where they were to be found. 

The mild, low voices of the natives, particularly 
the males, struck us as something quite unaccount- 
able. In asking a direction we always had to ask 
them to repeat it. 

They were very gracious about doing so. Once 
when we thanked a man, he replied that he was only 
too happy to be able to be of any service to us. 
Whereupon the judge, not to be outdone in politeness, 
raised his hat, bowed, and thanked him again. The 
man said something more in his soft, sweet tones. 
The judge showed a disposition to respond, and that 
sort of thing might have gone on to this day, and 
your reporter never returned to tell the tale, had not 
Lexington put an end to the palaver, and moved on. 

Sugar maples are abundant in Pike, and the most 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 43 

delicious molasses is made from them. One group ot 
trees was pointed out of which the following story 
was told : 

John R , a shouting methodist, was tempted 

by the freely running sap to stay away from meeting 
one Sunday, in order to prepare troughs in which to 
catch the precious liquid. Some practical joker, 
knowing he had determined to do this, secreted him- 
self in the top of a tree, and when poor John had 
fairly got to work, called out, in sepulchral tones : 

''John R , what doest thou?" 

Conscience stricken, and terror stricken too, he 
answered, "Making sap-troughs, good Lord ; but I'm 
going home now ! — Dropping his tools, he took to 
his heels, and made a bee line for the house." 

" Dingman's used to be called Dingman's Choice," 
an old lady told us ; but she added, "it would not be 
my choice if I could get anywhere else." 

The place can boast of fine scenery, however, and 
there are several beautiful waterfalls. It has three 
hotels, full of summer boarders. Since the place has 
become a "resort," fanciful names have been given 
the various points of attraction. Thus we hear of 
"Daisy Hollow," "Dandelion Hill," "Dickens' 
Den," "Lover's Leap," etc. 

We were calling on the above mentioned lady, 
when a party of tourists came up and inquired : 

"Is that Waldo's Glen?" 

"No !" was her answer, with a funny twinkle in 
her eye, "no, it is my glen." 

We met at least one dissatisfied boarder. She said, 
"My husband and myself are paying thirty dollars 
per week just for wind and water. These are the 



44 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

only extras we get here. Otherwise we could live 
more comfortably on one third of that at home in 
the city. In a land flowing with milk and honey, 
and full of berries and trout, we breakfasted this 
morning on canned fish, and drank insipid coffee 
without cream ! ' ' 

We asked if they would not fare better, boarding at 
some of the farmer's houses. 

"Oh! no," she said, "we tried that. They put 
you in what they call the 'spare room,' it has no 
closets, the bureau is full of the things they pack 
away, and even the very nails, behind the door, are 
hung full of their sunday clothes. They expect you 
to literally live in your trunk, and at night, when 
you disrobe, to use a chair for a clothes horse. And 
besides, and beyond that," she said, " their outbuild- 
ings are always in such a wretched unsanitary state, 
that only the purity of the air saves them from a con- 
stant epidemic of diptheria and typhoid." 

Milford is a gem of a town. Nature seems to have 
designed the broad plateau on which it is placed for 
that especial purpose. It stands on an abrupt bluff 
above the river, and is hemmed in by rugged hills 
and mountains on all other sides. The highest 
point the thermometer had touched this season was 
78°. Mid-day seemed warm enough, but midnight 
was almost cold, and we were glad to draw on extra 
blankets. — 

People come here in the old-fashioned stage 
coaches. The railroads remain away at a respectful 
distance. Not one approaches within seven miles in 
either direction. One of the great charms of Milford 
is that it is so retired, so secluded from the grand lines 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 45 

of travel. The gravel roads are a perpetual delight 
either for walking, or driving, or riding. The day 
we drove from Dingman's to Milford, there had been 
a powerful shower, but it did not make mud enough 
to spatter I^exington's white stockings. 

We really began to believe there could be no bad 
roads iu that part of the country ; but Dr. E. showed 
us some. He insisted upon taking us to see a florist, 
a patient of his, who had started an establishment, 
with hot houses, two and a half miles away from 
town. We all set out together, and went together 
for a way, till the judge, becoming disgusted, turned 
back, and at last only the two doctors and the re- 
porter finished the journey alone. On they went, 
over places which looked as if some highway com- 
missioner had strewn loads of loose, round stones for 
street paving. Over mire and bog, over hill and 
dale, where the roads seemed to be nothing but cart- 
paths. Dr. E. had often been through there nights 
when it was so dark he couldn't see his hand before 
him. He said we were all right if the old mare didn' t 
stumble and break her pesky neck, or the buck-board 
wagon didn't go to pieces like 

"The Deacon's wonderful one-hoss shay." 

We reached the gardens at last, and were amply 
repaid for the effort. The flowers were beautiful, 
and the florist told us we were perfectly welcome, as 
Dr. E's friends, to help ourselves. We gathered some 
of the most lovely roses, and pinks, and pansies. 
We were the envy of everybody as we rode home with 
our big bunch of posies. 

We asked the flower man why he ever settled in 
such an out-of-the-way place. 



46 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

The question developed a sad history. He had 
been taken in by an advertisement. He had bought 
the land without ever seeing it. He supposed it was 
very accessible to the town, and after paying out his 
hard earned money, found it so distant from market, 
and so poor. His face was very pale and wan. He 
had worked himself almost to death's door to redeem 
one little spot from the wilderness. The rascal who 
cheated him ought to be compelled to live there and 
work that wild land. 

Milford is the most decidedly Frenchy place in the 
state. A wealthy French family was among its first 
settlers. A large number of French people from the 
cities spend their summers there. A Frenchman, 
Fanchere, is proprietor of one of the best hotels. 

Remarking on the stylish appearance of the resi- 
dent ladies, so unlike that of most inland towns, we 
were told that had been so for fifty years. A half 
century ago two stylish ladies married and came there 
to dwell. Of one of them it used to be said, she was 
the first lady in Milford who knew how to wear a 
shawl. The influence of these two, it is said, de- 
veloped the taste in dress we see to-day. 

The day we appointed for a drive to Port Jervis 
dawned bright and clear. As they say in London, we 
had been favored with Queen's weather all the way. 
It often rained at night, and showers came on Sun- 
days, when we did not travel, but they never caught 
us once, in fifteen days' driving. 

The first person whom we met "in Port," as they 
call it, was a young man whom we had known as a 
bright boy in New York city, now a successful den- 
tist, and making his mark in the profession, and a 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 47 

fortune for himself. He with his charming young 
wife, took us in their carriage to the junction of the 
three States. There the Delaware river meets the 
waters of the Neversink. It was at this point a 
gentleman once asserted on a wager, he could prove 
to the satisfaction of all present, that he had been in 
five States that day. It was easy to see how he had 
been in Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey, 
but the other two States were not so clear till he ex- 
plained. He had been married that day. The 
morning, he said, had found him in a state of single 
im-blessedness, he was now in a state of double 
felicity. 

We visited the cemetery, and a wag in the company 
read the placard at the entrance, " All persons are to 
observe the proprieties of the place, John Conklin ex- 
cepted." By a little ingenious transposition of words 
it did say that. 

One of the finest and most imposing tombs there 
bears in gilt letters, upon its front, the name of a 
man, now a prosperous citizen, who served ten years 
in the State prison of New Jersey under indictment 
and conviction for murder in the second degree. 

The Erie railroad has built a bridge across the 
Delaware, in crossing which twenty-five cents toll is 
charged for a one-horse team. The country people 
complain bitterly of this. It does seem an unjust 
imposition, and one that may seriously affect the 
business of the town. 

When we crossed the bridge, and turned our faces 
toward Milford, we realized that we were 
"Homeward bound." 



48 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

We were once more moving toward the South. 
We had been going slowly, but steadily, Northward 
for many days. 

As we went into Port in the morning we met an 
old-fashioned tin peddler starting out in ail the glory 
of new metal. Coming out of town, we met him re- 
turning, his whole stock exhausted, and his cart one 
vast bag of rags. We thought it typical of some 
lives, and of many journeys ; but not of ours, we 
hoped. 




It is Evident thky have been Maiikied Sometime. 
[See page 11] 



o 



A DRIVE BY THE DELAWARE. 
CHAPTER III. 

FROM START TO FINISH. (CONCLUDED.) 

NE part of the road between Milford and Ding- 
man's is called "Cave Banks," and below this 
the water is known as " Death's Eddy." The river 
is deepest there, and persons drowned at any point 
above are almost certain to be found at this spot. 

The green cool shade through which we returned 
was delightful. The blue sky had many white fleecy 
clouds ; and we enjoyed watching the shadows they 
made on the hills across the river in New Jersey. 

Many beautiful island farms were between us and 
that distant shore. Cooling springs issued from the 
mountain sides, and were seen dripping from the rocks. 

There are lovely waterfalls, sometimes from a great 
height, where no visible stream of water is ; and 
again in the tributaries of the Delaware, there are the 
most picturesque cascades. Each one has its name, 
its admirers, and its hosts of pilgrims. Brooks too, 
go babbling and laughing through the meadows and 
gladly lose themselves in the ever-flowing, all absorb- 
ing, river. There is an ever present odor of pine in 
the air. 

Tangles of clematis, and alder, and sumach border 

(49) 



50 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

the road. We wondered why these, especially the 
sumach, are not used as ornamental shrubs. 

We were dreaming along through all this loveli- 
ness, when we ran into a small drove of cattle driven 
by a rustic maiden. It happened just where the pas- 
sage was narrowest. We were picking our way suc- 
cessfully through, when one cow took it into her head 
to hook another. The one that was attacked backed 
into us, and came near upsetting the whole concern 
and causing a serious accident. Some of us looked 
scared, and one softly sung, 

" O think of the home over there." 

The parson said we ought always to be ready, and 
whether called up in a chariot of fire from some 
wooden trap of a hotel, or tossed into spirits on the 
horns of a mad bull, be prepared. The lawyer, evi- 
dently with an eye to business, echoed "be prepared ; 
make your wills beforehand. Whatever else you do 
don't die intestate." 

On our way down we again halted for the night at 
Diugman's. The longevity must be remarkable in 
this vicinity. We saw a woman of eighty-five who 
had walked nine miles to the store, bought a twenty- 
five pound bag of flour and started for home with it on 
her head. Fortunately a neighbor came along who 
was going within a mile of her house, and he took 
her in. The old lady was bright and chatty. She 
asked one question which struck us as being very 
quaint. It was this : — 

"Did ye ever in your travels drop on Sara Jane 
Stone,?" 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 51 

When one told her anything very marvelous she 
would shake her head doubtingly, and say, 

*' It may be a bee, but it looks mightily like a 
wasup," (wasp). 

Late one evening we called upon a country lady 
who, by the dim light of a lamp, seemed to be intent- 
ly reading what looked like a standard magazine. It 
proved to be John Wanamaker's descriptive catalogue ! 

About ten miles away from the " Choice " as it is 
called, is a hermit. He is called Fluto, but his real 
name is Austin Sheldon. He has been there many 
years, guarding, what he supposes, is a diamond mine. 
The recent death of his wife in Connecticut — she 
steadily refused to go to live with him — leaves him a 
happy widower, anxious to find a suitable mate. The 
first qualification for the position is youth. Some 
degree of beauty would be expected, as a matter of 
course, and is only a secondary consideration. 

A snake called the pilot is numerous here. It is 
more treacherous than the black-snake and as poison- 
ous as the rattle-snake. It invades the houses. It 
has even been found in the beds. A lady whom we 
knew went into her kitchen about twilight, and ob- 
serving something suspicious on the floor, called her 
son, who struck it with a heavy stick, and found he 
had killed a copper-head pilot. 

A young girl where we were, was sent to the barn 
for eggs. She put her hand down where she knew a 
nest was. She drew her arm back screaming with 
pain, and found a pilot's fangs in her fingers. She 
ran to the house with the wound freely bleeding. 

There is a superstition that a black ribbon tied 
above the bite will prevent it from being fatal. The 



52 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

black ribbon was used in this case, and some otlier of 
the usual things done, but it was long before she was 
well. In fact, she will never recover the use of her 
hand. 

The place seemed as much infested as India, where 
one can never put down his foot in the dark with any 
sort of certainty that he will not step on a crawling 
venomous reptile. 

The feminine portion of our party became nervous 
and could not sleep. When the beautiful morning 
appeared the parson was heard repeating — 

" O, the transporting rapturous scent 
That rises to my sight ; 
Sweet fields arrayed in Hving green, 
And rivers of delight." 

" Must there be serpents to spoil every Paradise ? " 
he asked, and answered himself — " It is the old con- 
flict of the evil and the good ; but evil is bound to be 
subdued. Already it is, like these snakes, banished 
to a few strongholds. Error still hides only in the 
old ledges of superstition." 

*' I remember when that large tree was only a sapling 
the size of my arm," said the judge. "What 
changes this place has seen since then ! 

" O, where are the friends that to me were so dear? 

Long, long ago ; long ago. 
Many of them are heaps of dust ; but I loved them so." 

"It is all right," said the parson, cheerfully. 
" Death, as much as birth, is a part of Nature's plan. 
We have only to accept the inevitable, and have a 
child-like trust in the supreme goodness and wisdom. 
All will be right at last ; all is right now." 

The summer boarder seemed to be ubiquitous. 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 53 

The places the judge had known in his youth as the 
homes of the semi-aristocratic Van Aukens, Van 
Ettens, Flumerfeldts, &:c., were now little hostelries. 
The old buildings are transformed by fanciful roofs, 
cupolas, piazzas, verandahs, porticos and bay- 
windows. Gravel walks, grape arbors, gay flowers 
and rustic bowers adorn the grounds. 

"This is all the woman's doings," one old man 
said to us. ' ' Ye see, she seen a chance to make 
some money. The children was growed, and mostly 
out of the way ; so there was nothing to hinder. She 
manages the whole thing. She won't let me have a 
finger in the pie at all, except she buys my milk and 
all the garden sass I can raise. She's been at it these 
three years, and has got bank stock in her own name, 
she has." 

In contrast to this, we saw many other places where 
the barn was the best house. Every machine for do- 
ing work outside that one could desire was bought, 
while inside the rooms were bare and desolate. 

There were few comforts and no luxuries. The 
woman rocked an old fashioned cradle with one foot, 
while her hands were making a shirt, a stitch at a 
time. Not so much as a sewing machine had been 
provided for her relief It was too evident that this 
woman had no money of her own. 

The careless ways of some country people are amaz- 
ing. Sleighs were out rotting in the summer sun, 
expensive machinery rusting in the rain, weeds act- 
ually gone to seed in the gardens, thistles and briers 
and brush along the fences. 

Another thing of which the traveler often has cause to 
complain is the absence of trees where shade should be. 



54 THE WEST-BROOKDRIVES. 

"If some folks would only try Nehemiah's plan,'* 
said the parson. 

"Who was Nehemiah, and what was his plan?" 
^ve asked. "He was an Israelitish nobleman," an- 
swered the parson. " When his nation returned after 
the captivity, he was the leader in rebuilding Jeru- 
salem. His plan was for each man to make the wall 
and do the work that lay before his own house. Only 
let every one plant trees by his own roadside and clear 
before his own door, and the tourist, with shade and 
flowers, and fragrance and beauty everywhere, could 
imagine himself riding through another garden of 
Eden." 

Farmers work too hard, and have neither time nor 
disposition for the cultivation of the aesthetic. From 
dawn till dark they are often in the field. They eat 
their meals while in a state of fatigue, and so contract 
dyspepsia. By evening time they are too tired for 
anything but sleep. A physician in Pike county told 
us he did not know a single farmer nor farmer's wife, 
who was well and sound. It really seems that things 
might be different among them. Suppose they should 
limit themselves to ten hours, working six hours in 
the early part of the day, resting one or two hours at 
noon, and ending work by five P.M. Then, after a 
bath, and an entire change of clothes, they would 
have at least three hours for social intercourse, for 
supper, or for riding, before retiring for the night. 

If farmers would form an association agreeing to do 
this, it would be easy, pleasant and profitable for all. 
They would probably need more help on the farm, or 
need to cultivate less land. It might increase the 
price of produce, but not much. Farmers would live 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 55 

longer and happier lives, be more respected, and have 
more influence in the community. 

" Do country folks have more troubles than others, 
or is it from lack of diversion they dwell more on 
them ? " we asked of one another. Many of the faces 
looked prematurely old. The very tones of their 
voices have a wail of sadness that makes your heart 
ache. And yet 1 can never wholly divest myself of 
the idea that this is only their company manners, and 
that by themselves they think and talk on more live- 
ly subjects. 

An intelligent lady in New York city first called 
my attention to this matter. She had been on a visit 
to her native place in Vermont. Some one re- 
marked, 

'* How much you must have enjoyed going back to 
the scenes of your girl-hood." 

"Yes," she said, hesitatingly, "but I have come 
back feeling as if I had brought all the burdens 
in the world home with me. Everybody had some 
distress of mind or body which they poured into my 
sympathizing ears till my spirits are weighed down to 
the earth." 

A good rule would be, never ventilate your woes 
save to those who may be supposed to be able to help 
you out of them. If you are sick, go to the Doctor ; 
if wicked, talk to your minister ; if you have been 
wronged, apply to the Arbitration Board of the Uni- 
versal Peace Society. 

" Far better would it be for us all, 
If the troubles that fret and annoy, 
Were but hidden away in a privacy coy, 
And never prated about to our fellows." 



56 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

* ' This is the scene of the pumpkin story, ' ' said the 
judge, as we came to the foot of a steep hill. 

*' Hansen Bittenbender was a rough old fellow, very 
easily angered ; and when he was mad he would swear 
awfully. One day he was going to town with a load 
of pumpkins. Some naughty boys fixed the tailboard 
of his wagon so when it came to the hill it would 
be sure to slip and spill the load. Then they con- 
cealed themselves just to see the fun and hear him 
swear. He had reached nearly the top of the hill, 
when out went the tail-board, and down went the 
pumpkins. Bittenbender looked back in perfect dis- 
may and uttered not a word. Suddenly the youug 
rogues appeared on the spot, and asked with astonish- 
ment : 

" Hansen, why don't you swear? " 

"It's no use, boy's," was his reply. "I can't do 
justice to the subject." 

On our way home we met with one landlord, a 
veritable "Captain Jinks, of the Horse Marines." 
He had been an officer in the army, and was an en- 
thusiastic politician. Ascertaining, by accident, some 
of our distinguished political connections, he said he 
felt sufficiently repaid by the honor we had conferred 
on him in staying at his house, and so should decline 
all pecuniar}' recompense. We insisted, and he finally 
yielded so far, that he not only charged us more than 
his regular price, but when we gav^e him a large 
greenback, returned the change in trade dollars, a 
mistake of his we did not observe till we were miles 
away. 

The effect of this journey on Lexington became 
very striking. He saw a hotel sign as quickly as we 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 57 

did. He had acquired a decided leaning towards 
taverns. And whenever we came to an elegant-look- 
ing place with an attractive stable, he invariably paid 
us the compliment of supposing that a cousin, or 
some other relative, lived there, and that we were go- 
ing to stop of course. 

His inclination to do this became more and more 
marked as the day waxed warmer. 

At last, his driver, quite provoked, said to him, 

*'Goon! Goon!" 

*' That reminds me," said the judge, " of Tuttle's 
temperance speech. I think I never told you of 
that." 

Always ready to hear the judge's stories, we urged 
him to tell us about Tuttle. 

**He was a Methodist preacher," said the judge, 
"very popular, and always ready. He dropped into 
a temperance meeting one day. The secretary of the 
society was reading a long report of their various suc- 
cesses in their different districts of labor. 

" Tuttle had been recognized, and, as soon as the 
paper was finished, there was a general call, all over 
the house, for Tuttle. 

** Tuttle sprang to his feet and ascended, the plat- 
form. He said, ' I have been perfectly delighted 
as I have listened. I have no speech to offer you, 
but I have improvised a little song which I wish the 
whole audience to join me in singing. It is to be sung 
to the familiar tune of Webb. I will deacon off the 
lines. The audience will stand.' They arose as one 
man. ' The first line is this,' said Tuttle, 

" ' Go on ; go on ; go on ; go on; 
"Sing:" 



58 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

" And in his full, rich voice he led the tune. All 

joined. 'The second is like unto the first,' and he 

repeated, 

" 'Go on ; go on ; etc.* 

** They sang that, and so on, the same two words, 
through the whole tune ; and then sat down almost 
shouting, wild with enthusiasm." 

On our return trip from Port Jervis we reached the 
Water Gap about noon on Saturday. Many of the 
familiar faces were still there to greet us, although 
some had left for the seaside. 

The first friend that I really missed, however, was 
my purse. I recollected putting all the keys to all 
our baggage into it that morning, thirty miles away. 
It had been dropped, or left behind some how, in the 
hurry of our departure. Its loss was a great incon- 
venience, particularly on account of the keys. After 
a great efibrt one man was found who had a key that 
had never been known to fail in unlocking anything, 
and he kindly helped us out of our dilemma. 

The great attraction at the Gap is the walks, yet 
only the light and strong can indulge in them to any 
great extent. " Oh, for a horse, or mule," we said. 
Mules to hire would be of great service here, and 
would prove profitable to their owners. 

We made a call at the elegant new hotel on the hill, 
the Water Gap House. The view from its roof is 
simply superb. Mr. L- W. Brodhead, the proprietor, 
a man of culture and of polished manners, showed us 
an exquisite collection of local curiosities, fossils, 
Indian relics, etc. He also showed us a complete 
chart, of his own construction, giving the history of 
the Brodhead family, with all of its connections for 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 59 

the last nine generations. It embraces a list of be- 
tween two and three thousand names. All this since 
Captain Daniel Brodhead married Ann Tye in A.D. 
1660. 

" There were tones in the voice that answered them, 
You can hear to-day in a thousand men; 
A goodly record for time to show, 
Of a syllable spoken so long ago." 

Toward evening, as we were sitting on the piazza 
of the Kittatiny, on the river side, we saw the way in 
which some showers are made. On the mountain side 
there first appeared a something that looked like a wet 
shirt spread out to dry. Gradually it drew to its em« 
brace all the mists around it ; and so it grew larger 
and larger till it covered everything, and even shut 
out of sight both sky and river, and then the rain be- 
gan to pour. 

On Sunday morning we went to the little village to 
the Methodist church. The omnibus took everybody 
who would go. The weather was very warm and the 
church was not small enough to hold the few people 
and make them look like a respectable audience. 
The presiding elder preached. To show his humility, 
or poverty, or both, he wore a white twine string as a 
watch chain. He may have done it to emphasize the 
fact that the church's debt of $i,8oo had not been lifted. 
Only nine dollars salary had been paid the minister 
in four months, and as for himself he had received 
nothing. 

This was told us before they took up the collection. 
Then the little choir sang very sweetly, 

" O for a closer walk with God.'' 



6o THE WEST- BROOK DRIVES. 

The subject of the sermon was " The Hope of Salva- 
tion." He represented the Almighty Father as being 
principally occupied, since the Creation, in devising, 
perfecting and executing a plan for saving the crea- 
tures He had made from an everlasting destruction to 
which He had exposed them. The elder said one 
practical thing which was gratifying to some temper- 
ance advocates who were with us. He said, "The 
hope of the religious tavern-keeper who sells rum, it 
shall perish. Some of them are very pious, they go 
to public service regularly, they insist upon the nec- 
essity of keeping up religious organizations, they care- 
fully close the front doors of their bar-rooms on the 
Sabbath, but their miserable customers know the back- 
door is alwa3'^s open." 

The congregation was composed of a few elderly 
men, women, and young girls. Not a boy nor a young 
man was present. This is always a bad sign. Women 
will go to meeting from a sense of duty ; old men from 
a sense of fear, or desire for respectability. Young 
men will go only when they are interested and in- 
structed by the preaching. 

" Run, speak to that young man?" 

It is the young men that particularly need to be 
spoken to. Teach them to be good, and to do good, 
not for any selfish advantage, but because it is right. 
Teach them to love truth for its own sake. 

Twenty minutes to twelve when the preacher said, 
"I must now bring my subject to a close," every 
face brightened : for all realized how hot it was here, 
and evidently hoped the next world had a lower 
temperature than had been represented. 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 6 1 

As we rode back in the stage we heard one person 
observe, ' ' How thoroughly the belief in a literal Hell 
has died out even among the so-called Orthodox. I 
heard a Presbyterian elder joking this morning about 
Satan shoveling in an extra supply of coal for the re- 
ception of a certain man whom he denounced." 

Just then some one said to our parson, " I hear you 
don't believe in future punishment, at all. " " O yes, 
I do. I believe in both a present and a future punish- 
ment," he answered. "There is no escape from the 
consequences of violated law. ' ' 

Monday morning found us early on our way. We 
had come up the east side of the mountain and passed 
through it at the Water Gap. We came back on the 
west side and passed through at the Wind Gap. We 
drove down through Cherry Valley. The name has 
a luscious sound. The trees were numerous, but the 
fruit was mostly wild. In many places the ground 
was strewn with wild cherries. 

The elevation on our right seemed to pierce the sky, 
and made the world look like a huge hemisphere. 
Many miles beyond, when we were out in the high, 
open country, and had left the mountain range behind, 
the landscape was round, and the sky covered it like 
a big blue watch crystal. 

Here we saw the perfection of fencing. It consisted 
of slate posts with galvanized wire bars. The upper 
bar was full of barbs to prevent mischievous persons 
climbing over. It is not too costly ; it is easily con- 
structed ; and while it was a perfect guard, it offered 
no obstruction to a full view of the field or the garden 
which it enclosed. 

The corn-cribs in this region were peculiar. They 



62 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

were made of horizoutal slats, put together on the 
principle of an inverted pyramid, and always close to 
the highway. They seemed unnecessarily exposed 
to rats and road thieves. 

Another domestic arrangement which struck us very 
queer, was the wood piles in the road. They were 
generally large and generous ones, and reminded us 
of a certain father in Rhode Island, who when it be- 
came evident that some young man was intending to 
propose to one of his daughters, always inspected the 
family wood-pile of his would-be son-in-law and gave, 
or withheld his consent, according as the pile was 
large or small ; explaining that was a sure test as to 
the man being a liberal provider. 

Every little way we found spring water running into 
drinking troughs for animals. We were told it was 
the rule to deduct three dollars per year from the 
tax of any person who provided this public conve- 
nience. 

Our first little adventure on that day was caused by 
a youth of six summers or so, dragging a splint bottom 
chair back and forth across the road, to work oflf his 
surplus energy, I suppose. Lexington, a horse that 
laughs at locomotives, express trains and the like, is 
frightened almost out of his wits by any such thing. 
Of a boy and a baby wagon he is in perfect terror. 

At a little distance further on, was a most comical 
little cart, hurrying along to get out of our way. It 
was a home-made four-wheel aflfair, holding a little 
bit of a girl, and drawn by her little brother. Just as 
they reached the top of a knoll the king-bolt came 
out ; the girl baby tumbled over ; the boy ran on with 
the forward wheels, unable immediately to check his 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 63 

momentum. Lexington danced. The fright was 
mutual, and nobody hurt. 

About this time the bright morning became cloudy, 
and the bird that cries " more wet," a prophet of evil, 
we regarded it under the circumstances, was calling 
from the trees. 

After crossing the Wind Gap the appearances 
changed. Neither our rain of Saturday afternoon, nor 
Sunday, had touched there. The earth was dry and 
parched. 

On reaching Nazareth at noon we gladly stopped to 
rest and refresh ourselves. This, like Bethlehem, is 
an old Moravian settlement. The two places are 
twelve miles apart. The society has a school for girls 
at the latter place, and one for boys at Nazareth. 
They certainly train the two sexes at a respectful dis- 
tance from each other. 

After dinner we walked out to see the school build- 
ings, and the Nazareth Hall soldier's monument. 
The marble shaft bore inscriptions reciting the hero- 
ism and virtues of these pious young men who fought, 
and bled, and died, during "the late unpleasantness 
with the South." Some of our party are members of 
the Peace Society, and although they are occasionally 
guilt> of little inconsistencies themselves, they do not 
like any one else to be so. They therefore descanted 
upon the discrepancies of these praises, and the teach- 
ings of that greater Nazarene who came to proclaim 
"Peace on earth and good will towards men." 

In one direction the heavens showed dark and 
threatening, and we prudently returned to the hotel. 
Just as we were safely inside, a powerful wind swept 
by and a heavy drenching shower followed. At din- 



64 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

ner we had unexpectedly met an old acquaintance, a 
lady physician, who had recently married a Moravian 
minister. She gave us much information that was of 
interest about that denomination. Like the Roman 
Catholics and Episcopalians, they claim Apostolic 
Succession, and make much of it. The ministry are 
zealous workers and are content with small salaries. 

A prodigy in the shape of a little four-year-old 
Moravian amused us greatly. Her special talent was 
in reading pictures. We opened at random Harper's 
for Jiily. We pointed to a plate representing F. S. 
Church's picture of The Witch's Daughter. 

Without hesitation she read, "A lady and a bird 
sitting on the moon ; the bird fell in ; the woman 
reached down her hand, helped the poor creature out, 
and put it on her head as a crown." 

This is ouly one of many experiments we made. 
It led to a discourse on precocious children, in which 
the doctors agreed, that such smart children rarely 
prove in adult life to be anything remarkable. 

By this time the storm had passed, the air was 
cooled, and the skies were blue. We resumed our 
drive. Sheltered and occupied as we had been, we 
had no idea of the damage that was being done out- 
side. The road was literally strewn with branches, 
and in some cases large trees lay across the way. One 
man whom we met said they had a regular "kiklone" 
at his house. 

The mud made the driving so heavy we were forced 
to stop for the night at Hellertown. There is some- 
thing in a name after all. The table cloth and nap- 
kins were red so the soil could not be seen. 

The color could not prevent us from feeling how 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 65 

dirty they were. The flies were bitter in their perse- 
cution. And the food — well, we all declared we were 
not the least bit hungry. This was remarkable, as 
being our first experience of a lack of appetite. Our 
bed was straw ! and fine straw at that ! ! Nobody has 
a right to set up as a host who cannot aflford to make 
guests comfortable. Some landlords hold a cent for 
expense so near their eyes, they cannot see a dollar 
that would be sure to come back to them in profit. 

While we were mourning our own miserable pros- 
pect for the night, a hand organ under the window 
played 

' No place like home." 

We knew the fact before, it seemed doubly impressed 
on us then. 

The next morning dawned dark and rainy. It was 
the first of the kind we had seen on our journey. We 
could not think of spending the day in such a place, 
so we ordered up the rig, had the carriage closed as 
far as possible, and with umbrellas, gossamer and 
waterproof protection, we thankfully shook the mud 
of Hellertown from oflf our shoes. 

We drove about forty miles that morning to reach 
our old quarters at Doylestown. 

The actual distance was not so great ; but some 
confusion in the directions given, and some faded 
guide-boards which we could not decipher, were re- 
sponsible for the extra travel. 

Some public occasion had brought a host of folks 
to the county town of Bucks, and our Hotel was 
crowded. One professional man, ofi" on a periodical 
spree, made things disagreeable and disgusting. It 
seems he was a man of such high position and re- 



66 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

spectability when sober, that no one had the courage 
to offend hiin when he was drunk. 

The rain continued to pour all the afternoon, and 
our only amusement lay in watching the people come 
and go. Two sons of Wayne MacVeagh, on horse- 
back, rested for an hour on their way to the Water 
Gap. A traveling carriage containing a man, wife, 
son and daughter, stopped. The faces of the men 
were red, and the ladies pale and tired. The men 
came out of the bar-room with lighted cigars and 
redder than ever. 

Two men, farmers, half tipsy, were quarreling in 
front. 

A fight seemed inevitable, when one proposed they 
should take another drink together and settle the dis- 
pute some other time. They disappeared for quite a 
while, and when they again emerged, had agreed to 
ride home together. They had a dilapidated old 
wagon and a white mule. 

The owner sprang into the wagon, and lashed the 
poor animal almost into a frenzy, yet held him tightly 
so he could not go. At last the other one tumbled 
in, and off they started at a furious speed down the 
hill. We held our very breath, expecting to see the 
wretches thrown into the gutter with broken limbs or 
necks. 

What could save them ? 

"A special providence watches over drunkards," 
some one said. 

"They will both go home and whip their wives," 
said a pretty maiden who knew, and was watching 
them from the doorway. 

A lady who was present said they ought to be served 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 67 

like a man she had heard of, who went home to his 
bride tipsy. The young wife waited till he was asleep ; 
then bound him hand and foot, sent for the doctor, 
and told him her husband had brain-fever and must 
have his head shaved and blistered. 

The doctor refused, but the determined woman told 
him if he wouldn't do it, she should ; and he con- 
sented. 

The result was the suffering and the mortifica- 
tion effected a radical cure. He never went home 
in that condition again. 

Wednesday morning, the fifteenth of our travels, 
was clear and bright as heart could wish. From 
Doylestown we returned by the same way we went 
out. The turnpike roads over which we came are 
doubly delightful, consisting as they do of two tracks, 
one of clay and the other macadamized ; so you can 
take your choice, or change, as you weary, of one to 
the other. I noticed our driver took first one and 
then the other, as one eats pie and cheese. He said 
the horse liked it that way. 

We passed some of the most charming picnic 
grounds. We met acquaintances in the most unex- 
pected places. It seemed as if everybody we knew 
was off on a pleasure trip. A lame white mule, a 
rickerty old family carriage, one of the wheels leaning 
at an angle of forty-five degrees, a merry load of 
mother, children and baskets, passed us, as intent on 
a day in the woods, as if pleasuring was the sole ob- 
ject in life. We thought we recognized the drunk- 
ard's mule, and guessed it was his family taking their 
"day out". 



68 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

We had had our play of two weeks and a day ; we had 
seen one of the American Switzerlands ; discovered 
many nice new people ; renewed friendship with many 
old friends ; mourned at the graves of others ; and 
driven by the Delaware altogether a distance of three 
hundred miles. 

A part of the pleasure of going away is coming home 
again. We all rejoiced to see the old familiar streets 
and piles of brick and marble. Even Lexington 
struck into a livelier trot, while the parson sang 
.snatches from Beulah Land : 

" I've reached the land of corn and wine, 
And all its riches freely mine." 



DRIVE TO LONGWOOD MEETING IN 1883. 
CHAPTER IV. 

THE thirty-sixth annual meeting of the Progress- 
ive Friends at lyong^ood, was advertised to take 
place June 7th, 8th, and 9th. 

At six o'clock, A. M., on the 7th inst., we seated 
ourselves in our little one-horse carriage and set out 
for that renowned meeting place. The city seemed 
still asleep, although the sun had been up for more 
than an hour. We passed rapidly over the cobble 
stones, as the streets were quite unobstructed. The 
milk-men seemed to be the only ones at work. 
These, as a class, looked like innocent folks, and not 
as one would imagine those engaged in retailing 
fraud upon an unsuspectiug community would look. 

When we were outside the city limits, and had 
reached the first toll-gate, we wanted to inquire about 
what distance we had already traversed, and the gate- 
man answered gravely, "Wall, I should say about 
six-te-seven miles." He probably meant six or seven 
miles. 

By this time we had reached the open country. 
The fragrance of the air was delightful ; the birds 
were singing their sweetest songs ; the locust trees, 
a little pasf their freshest bloom, were scattering 
their petals like snow flakes ; among them rose leaves 

(69) 



70 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

mingled. The road was being mended with freshl)- 
cut turf, and our path was thus literally strewn with 
daisies and with roses. 

Our course was toward the west ; so we had the 
sun behind us and the breeze in the right direction. 
Nothing could have been more delightful than the 
early drive through that most charming Chester 
county. 

Many of the houses we passed were large and 
elegant, but were too densely shaded for either health 
or comfort. Besides this, the shutters were nearly 
all closed ; thus almost excluding the delicious air 
and the light of day. " Why should sensible people 
do such a thing? They say it is to keep out the 
flies. It is no wonder flies cannot live in such dark- 
ness ; the only marvel is that human beings can," 
said the lady Doctor. 

As we went along we met numbers of Italians with 
bundles and stores. At a little way-side inn, a 
hundred or more were clamoring for breakfast. A 
little further on we saw a man and wife preparing 
their own meal under a tree by the roadside. The 
man had built a fire, and the woman was making 
coffee and roasting potatoes. The judge thought 
that tramp must be quite the envy of the wifeless, 
hungry ones, at the public house. 

By this time the day was growing warm, and the 
horse showed signs of fatigue. The poetry of the 
proceeding was fast vanishing, and the excursion 
began to be an exertion. We had been told that the 
Willistown Inn was a good place at which to stop 
for refreshment "for both man and beast." We 
went off" the direct road for a mile or less to reach it. 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 7I 

It proved a delusion. The present occupant seemed 
surprised that everybody didn't know the hotel had 
been given up long ago. 

We crept back to the main road sadder, wiser, and 
more hungry than we had been before. Then, owing 
to somebody's stupidity in giving directions, and our 
own carelessness combined, we got lost and went out 
of our way several miles. At last we came to the 
smooth straight State road, and arrived at Ivongwood 
just before noon. Meeting was not yet out. We 
hitched our tired horse in the shade of a friendly tree 
and went in. We soon recognized some familiar 
faces, and were introduced to some of the Longwood 
friends. We received several cordial invitations to 
lunch on the lawn, but as they could offer no atten- 
tions to our horse, we declined them all. 

The Red lyion, one mile away, was the only place 
that held out any promise of the accommodations we 
desired. Thither we went ; and when our eyes be- 
held it, we felt like Paul when he met the brethren, 
and saw the three taverns, "we thanked God and 
took courage." 

We returned to the afternoon meeting greatly re- 
freshed. This was our first experience with this set 
of radicals. Almost the first expression we heard 
was, "I hate the very name of religion." This was 
from an elderly man who afterwards appeared to us a 
very good man ; but it was rather shocking to one 
who had been taught from her youth up, that re- 
ligion was the one important thing in the world. 
We must think his expression came from a miscon- 
ception of the subject on which he spoke and that he 
confounded it with fanaticism, bigotry or hypocrisy. 



73 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

However that may be, we believe in the largest 
liberty. 

"If we our own opinions have, let others have 
theirs too." 

Miss Eastman, from Boston, in a little speech 
partly apologized for this rashness of statement. 
She said they had been so disgusted with the assur- 
ance of those who professed to know all about 
God and future life, that they were in danger of too 
great reaction, and going too far toward Agnosticism. 

One man seemed to think that religion meant the 
Orthodox theory of Hell and eternal punishment 
He gave his own experience of the effect of sucl 
teaching. When a boy of fourteen he was driven 
almost to insanity, and the doctor who was consulted, 
although himself a Methodist, merely prescribed 
total abstinence from Methodist meetings. 

Mr. Hinckly, of Providence, R. I., read an essay 
in which he gave from Theodore Parker, a very fine 
illustration of the power of conscience, that inner 
check on the outer man. Mr. Hinckly's paper was 
listened to with a great deal of interest, until an ap- 
proaching thunder storm divided the attention of the 
audience. The clouds were very black and threaten- 
ing ; the wind blew almost a gale, and those who 
came with teams, as nearly all did, were anxious 
about their safety. We unhitched our horse, leaving 
the buggy to the mercy of the wind and water, and 
took him to a sheltered spot in the rear of the 
building. 

He was half frantic from fright, and his master 
compassionately stayed by his side out in the dripping 
rain and sympathetically held the halter. A friend 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 73 

perceiving the situation, opened the side door, and 
placing the music stool there for the judge's accom- 
modation, persuaded him to be seated, and thus par- 
tially sheltered he held and soothed the animal till 
the storm abated. 

By this time we had been made acquainted with 
many of the friends, several of whom kindly urged 
us to make their house our home during our stay ; 
but we were wet, and it was necessary to go back to 
the hotel for a change of raiment. We therefore felt 
obliged to decline their hospitality. 

As we drove up to the door of the Red I^ion there 
came a flash of lightning followed directly by a peal 
of thunder that was really terrific. The tempest con- 
tinued for another hour prostrating telegraph poles 
and breaking down trees. After a while the fury 
had spent itself, only the rain continued to drip more 
and more softly, till long after sunset the sky became 
faintly golden, the clouds gradually dispersed and 
the stars came out. 

Our hotel was a very old house, over a hundred 
years, we were told. It had very large rooms with 
low ceilings, and few and small windows. It was 
kept darkened, and realized the idea of the term 
"stufiy." Although plumped down into such a 
magnificent country, and built so long ago, when 
land must have been cheap and plenty, it was, on 
three sides, exactly on a line of the road, while on 
the fourth side, the stables brought up the rear. Our 
host we thought a morose sort of man till we asked 
about a portrait that hung on the parlor wall, and he 
told us with tearful eyes that it was that of his dear 
wife who was taken from him one year ago without 



74 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

a moment's warning. Our sympathy with his sad 
bereavement touched his heart, and from that moment 
his manner changed to one of confidence and 
cordiality. 

The road that passed on the north side of the house 
was called the Street road. The reason for the name 
we could not discover, but we found out it was orig- 
inally laid out by Penn himself, and given to the 
country to be used for all time, for no other purpose 
but for that of a public highway. The farmers, 
however, who seem never to have quite all the land 
they want, have encroached upon it till in many in- 
stances the space is much less than thirty feet between 
their fences. 

After breakfast on Friday morning we started out 
to see some of the notable places there about. We 
drove first to Keunett Square, and then inquired for 
Bayard Taylor's old residence. Our landlord had de- 
scribed it as a place in the woods where nobody but a 
fool would live. It is quite a little distance from the 
village, and we stopped at a small house to inquire. 
A Frenchman came out and asked if we spoke French, 
'"parlez vous Francaise?" "Oui, Oui," the Judge 
told him, and gave him one of the few French 
phrases he has at command, " 111 est temps de salle 
couch." (It is time to go to bed). That did not help 
matters along much ; but we finally reached the de- 
sired spot. On the handsome but very odd brick 
building we read the inscription, "Bayard, Mary 
Taylor, 1859. The property had just been bought by 
a Philadelphia physician whose name we could not 
learn. The place is very secluded, and he undoubt- 
edly wished to hide away from all sight and sound of 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 75 

woe. As we drove out through the deep woods the 
gorgeous flowers of a tulip tree came within our 
reach, aud we plucked one for Hannah Thurston's 
sake. 

We now wished to find our way back to Longwood ; 
but the houses were a distance from the road, and 
looked as if the folks were all away, and we met no 
one. At last a Quaker gentleman driving leisurely 
along, hove in sight. " We shall find out now," we 
confidently exclaimed. When we asked him, he 
took up his reins again in a puzzled way, and said, 
"thee' 11 have to excuse me, friends, I'm a stranger 
in these parts. Howsomever, I advise thee to take the 
right hand road. I've generally observed it is always 
best to keep to the right in all things." 

On arriving again at the meeting house, we found 
more people whom we knew, had come by trains from 
the city, and a half hour passed in pleasant greetings. 
The first thing that came up before the meeting was 
the necrological report and resolutions in regard to 
the recently departed. Two persons read reports on 
the death of Isaac Mendenhall. One was written and 
read by a woman, the other by a man. Each had 
written without knowing the other was to write, and 
the difference was very interesting though not at all 
contradictory. Both agreed in this, that instead of 
repining that such a valuable life had been taken 
from our midst, we ought rather to be grateful that 
so much goodness had ever entered into our lives. 

Some phases of the temperance question were then 
discussed. Mr. Ames took the ground that neither 
license or prohibition could do the work ; that only 
education could make man desire something better 



y6 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

than carousal. Mr. Mills, the chairman, in a few well 
chosen sentences took substantially the same ground. 
He showed that the highest ideal of our Saxon an- 
cestors was the feasting on roasted boar, and the ex- 
cess of fighting, dancing and drinking. Their 
Valahalla was one perpetual everlasting bout. Their 
educated descendants eat and drink very much less, 
and insist on far better quality. They are no longer 
great gluttons : and sometime will become ashamed 
to be gluttons of any size whatever. Some have 
thought the time is coming when we will be as much 
ashamed of eating meat as our ancestors were of the 
cannibalism of their forefathers. It seems as if we 
ought to hasten the day of deliverance from the rule 
of rum, not only by the slow process of education, 
but by compulsion, by prohibition, as well. 

Fearing another showery evening we left Long- 
wood at noon : and after dinner at the Red Lion, 
took our departure for West Chester, the Athens of 
Pennsylvania, and county seat of Chester. The 
elegance of this little place was a complete surprise. 
On every hand were evidences of culture, taste, and 
wealth ; and yet, as it was in the Happy Valley of 
Rassales, discontentment dv/elt there also. One 
young lady told us it was altogether too far away 
from Philadelphia privileges and amusements to be 
even tolerable. One thing that delighted our eyes 
was the terraced and turfed lawns which swept down 
to the very side-walk with no barriers of fence or 
wall, to make the passer-by feel himself shut out, a 
stransfer and an alien, " Restrain all kinds of cattle, 
but tear down the walls and fences and let the good 
go free," said the lady doctor. 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 77 

The Mansion House had been recommended to us 
as a pleasant haven for the night. It still remains 
true as in the days of Dr. Johnson, " there is no place 
in which you are so sure of a hearty welcome as at 
an inn." The host himself came out and assisted us 
to alight. Then he gave us the best rooms his house 
afforded ; sent a servant with ice water, and left us to 
rest, and dress ourselves for the nice supper which 
was soon announced. At the Red Lion we had met 
some people, a Mr. and Mrs. B , from an ad- 
joining county, who had come about the same dis- 
tance as ourselves, but from a different direction. 
They were intelligent and progressive, and we were 
much interested in their conversation. We met them 
again in the afternoon at the meeting at Longwood ; 
they saw us next morning at Kennett Square, and 
here again, at the West Chester hotel, we came to- 
gether without expectation. They laughed heartily 
at our following them around. They were keeping 
their wedding holiday. Twenty-six years ago they 
had been married in that very house. One could 
easily see by their happy faces and quiet tender ways 
that the match had been made in Heaven. 

Invoking blessings on the heads of the next per- 
sons who should come to occupy our pleasant 
quarters, as was always the custom of our parson, 
and leaving our rooms in perfect order, as Bishop 
Janes had once exhorted our young parson to do, 
so that even the servant who came to make the beds 
should realize that a man of the Lord had slept 
there, at five o'clock in the morning, we started on 
our homeward way. 

A dense fog that was almost like rain, obscured 



78 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

every object. The trees at a little distance looked 
like ghosts of trees. The moisture seemed to make 
the fragrance of the woods and that of the sweet 
scented flowers more intense. It seemed as if nature 
had made a decoction for our especial benefit. We 
had missed our morning coffee, but we drank this in 
with great satisfaction, singing the while : 
" When the mists have cleared away." 

We met the traditional milk-maid at this early 
hour with a pail on either arm. " How poetical ! " 
we exclaimed, but when she drew nearer, we dis- 
covered she was black though comely. 

Such a display of spider's webs. We passed miles 
of them by the roadside. Between the rails of the 
fences were suspended the usual vertical web made 
in the ordinary geometrical manner with lines ra- 
diating from the center. It will be remembered it 
was this kind that saved the life of Mahommed while 
he was concealed in the cave. There was still 
another kind of web along our road. It was spread 
horizontally and made almost square, with fine close 
meshes. It seemed like what the Spiritualists call 
a materialization. There must have been hundreds 
and even thousands, of these little square shawls fit 
for fairies. When at last the sun came out, this 
silver sheen grew golden, and vanished with the 
heavy dew. 

At ten o'clock we were home again, 
"The dearest spot on earth to me is home, sweet home." 

Longwood has had its day ; its history is already a 
thing of the past, unless new lights arise to take 
the places of the dear departed. 



TO LONGWOOD MEETING IN 1884. 
CHAPTER V. 

RAILROADS spoil the romance of travel. In one 
hour and a half we made the journey which, 
with our horse Lex and the phaeton, took the best 
part of the day last year. On the train were crowds 
of colored people, many of them dressed in the bril- 
liant colors which become their complexion so well. 
They were bound to see the commencement at Lincoln 
University. A dapper little black gentleman, with 
subscription book and pencil, approached us and asked 
our names for the annual publication of the Alumnae 
Association. 

We made some inquiries about the institution. 
Among them we asked if women were admitted to its 
classes. *'No, indeed!" he scornfully answered. 
" President would not preside over a school of mixed 
sexes. His school is males — 200 males!" *'Very 
well," we replied; "our money goes for no school 
where co-education is not the rule. A school that is 
too good for girls is too bad for us. ' ' 

Rosedale station was reached in due time, and there 
we found a plenty of carriages waiting for the city 
guests. The day was cool and breezy, with just 
enough of haze to make the shade of trees unnecessary. 
The plain, Quaker-like structure at Longwood is 
made perfectly beautiful by its ample surroundings 

(79) 



8o THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

and magnificient trees. Thirty years ago, we are in- 
formed, the meeting-house stood bare and desolate, 
when Alfred Love, then a youth, who went up there 
with his mother to worship and to talk about the 
wrongs of slavery, started the project of planting, not 
a vineyard, but a grove. To-day the grove is the 
pride, and one of the great attractions of the place. 

The convention was wooed to silence by the sounds 
of sweet music. The platform was otherwise vacant. 
C. D. B. Mills, who had for some years occupied the 
chair, was absent. Mr. Hinckley of Providence, R. I., 
and Mrs. M. Beatty of Kennett, were elected clerks 
and took their places. Three reporters, two men and 
one maiden, seated themselves at the little square 
table. A few old drab-dressed people with tottering 
steps, were helped to prominent and comfortable 
positions. 

The number of these latter grows less each year. 
Many have passed over to resume youth and activity 
on the other side. A long roll of great names that 
were wont to bring here and to utter, the highest 
truth they knew, are heard no more on earth. Lu- 
cretiaMott, William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, 
Channing, Bellows and many others who shed lustre 
on the meeting at Longwood, have now **gone to 
that bourne whence," it used to be said, "no traveler 
returns". 

On this occasion the new presiding officer made a 
very brief inaugural. The spirit of truth was an- 
nounced as the one leader we were to recognize ; two 
or three general subjects were given out for testi- 
monies and discussions in the subsequent sessions ; 
the musicians who had gone out for a stroll during 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 8l 

the organization of the meeting and its preliminary 
deliberations, were sent for. They came in and gave 
us a concluding song, and the first session of the thirty- 
third annual meeting was over. 

Out "under the leafy green- wood trees" the tables 
were soon spread with a delicious repast. Everybody 
was expected to draw near and partake. No one 
seemed to wait for a second invitation, and no one 
was heard to declare he had "no occasion," while 
mingled with the friendly milky bowl, 

" The feast of reason and the flow of soul." 

At two o'clock we reassembled to the sound oi 
music. The improvised choir sang "The Bridge of 
London." Exactly how that came to be selected for 
a deliberative body of Progressive Friends and Free 
Religionists, we could not tell. Their next song, 
given as a rest to the audience about the middle of the 
afternoon, and when the subject of religion had been 
given for the next day's consideration, " The prom- 
ised land to-morrow," seemed more appropriate. The 
theme for testimony and for talk the first afternoon 
was Education. 

Miss Eastman, of Massachusetts, and Mrs. Sewall, 
of Indiana, made the opening addresses. Physically, 
Miss Eastman is immense, and her intellect seems in 
proportion to her physique. Mrs. Sewall also was 
equally mistress of herself and her subject. Her flow 
of ideas was simply wonderful, and the language in 
which they were clothed was exquisite and tasteful to 
a degree. Each of these ladies seemed to know all 
about education from beginning to end. They un- 
derstood its practical side, as well as its theoretical, 
ideal and philosophical sides. When they were 



82 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

through the subject seemed quite exhausted. Never- 
theless, several men contrived to talk it over for an- 
other hour. 

The only thing we can now recall of this portion 
was a story to illustrate moral teaching. A boy who 
had discovered how to renovate a cancelled postage 
stamp, used it on a letter to his aunt, and afterward 
boasted to his father of his ingenuity. The gentle- 
man ordered his child to take from his little purse 
three cents, and go to the post-office and buy a stamp. 
This done, he told him to throw the new stamp into 
the fire. " Now my son," said the father, " you and 
the United States Government are even." 

After this Miss Turner, of Philadelphia, sang " Come 
unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden and I 
will give you rest." 

Then we drove away * ' to our respective places of 
abode" to rest for the night. Happily for us, our 
destination was Pine Lawn. The fates had been 
doubly kind to us. The great Miss Eastman was our 
associate guest. Our good fortune did not even stop 
here. The same team that took us to the house was 
sent on to the next station to meet more distinguished 
guests from town. It came back with our Phila- 
delphia Street Commissioner Eastabrook and his 
family. 

While the carriage was gone to meet the train we 
had ingloriously retired to take a nap and refresh our- 
selves after the fatigues of the day but Miss Eastman 
remained outside, gayly roaming over the grounds 
like a "Child amid the flowers at play." A small 
tempest had been brewing for some time, and these 
later guests arrived in a dripping rain. Supper had 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 83 

been waiting long, and now, with keen appetites and 
cheerful hearts, we gathered in one grateful circle 
around the table. Afterward lamps were brought 
into the drawing room and a wood fire was kindled 
on the hearth " to take away the dampness of the air," 
our thoughtful host said. 

One of the ladies of the party told the Street Com- 
missioner she was glad of an opportunity to tell him 
that he held the only office she had ever coveted. He 
politely replied he could heartily wish she held it, 
only he could not afflict any one willingly. He added 
that she was probably unaware "how uneasy lies the 
head that wears the crown," and surely had not no- 
ticed how dreadfully the newspapers abused him. 
She replied that she had never desired the office for its 
ease, but to be able to show how streets should be kept, 
and that cleanliness in great cities was a possibility. 
He advised her to try her hand on a small village first, 
and to be quite unhampered, if she could, by a great 
corporation and city council. 

For the benefit of those who had not heard the ad- 
dresses of the women from abroad, we reviewed them 
that evening. 

Miss Eastman had strongly advocated some indus- 
trial training of the hands in connection with the edu- 
cation of the mind. She paid a grateful tribute to 
Froebel for the kintergarten system, which he intro- 
duced. It had been very suggestive and helpful in 
schools for more mature pupils. There were some 
kinds of handicraft which girls should learn as well as 
boys. Every young woman should know how to drive 
a nail without splitting the board. On the other side 
of sex there was no reason why a boy should not learn 



84 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

to sew. He should at least be able to patch his own 
trousers and darn his own stockings. If the male por- 
tion of the family was regularly expected to do this, 
how much more time the mothers, wives and sisters 
would have for the cultivation of their own intelli- 
gence. 

Mrs. Sewall had dwelt particularly on the power of 
politeness between teacher and pupil. The old days 
when the rod was ruler of the school had passed away 
forever. Some people seemed to feel perfectly help- 
less without it ; but its banishment marked a new era 
in civilization a step higher in human progress. 

She gave a graphic and glowing account of her re- 
cent visit to the schools of New Orleans. These 
schools, it appears, are now being taught mostly by 
ladies, who, before the war, belonged to the wealthy 
and cultured classes. Respect toward these teachers, 
as ladies, and deference toward them as aristocracy, 
makes compliance with their commands easy. 

Friday morning dawned bright and clear. 

"It was the time when lillies blow, 
And clouds float highest in the air." 

At four o'clock, when awakened by the "early birds," 
we looked out. The farmers were already "up and at 
it," doing their day's work before meeting time. Ten 
A. M. found us all at Longwood again. The subject 
was Religion. Hinckley, of Newburgh, was the first 
speaker, but his discourse was rather on Deity, and 
sounded like extracts from an old sermon. Mr. Rey- 
nolds, of Concord, followed him, and although he re- 
membered the theme, and really talked about it, he 
too failed to arouse his hearers to anything like en- 
thusiasm, or even to command close attention. When 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 85 

at last the question was thrown open for ten minute 
speeches the people seemed to become interested. 

The origin and signification of the word itself evoked 
some learned discussion. 

Felix Adler, of New York, is accustomed to define 
Religion as the desire of the individual life to connect 
itself with the Universal life ; but that seems to us a 
better definition for prayer or aspiration. Some one 
called it the tie that binds us to the highest. 

The "Parson," however, hit the nail on the head 
by quoting the definition of St. James — " Pure religion 
and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to 
visit the widow and the fatherless in their affliction, 
and to keep himself unspotted from the world!" 
Most people find it easier to do the visiting than to 
keep themselves unspotted from the world. 

The music furnished to us, although often beau- 
tiful and very artistically rendered, seemed quite 
foreign to the occasion ; but just at the close of the 
second prosy discourse, and when many drowsy heads 
were nodding, the selection seemed comically appro- 
priate. It was "He giveth his beloved sleep." The 
singers sang it very softly too, as if afraid of awaking 
the audience. 

A fair-haired man, whose name we failed to hear, 
but with good voice, earnest manner and command- 
ing presence, began by saying, "Let us get down to 
bed-rock. What do we actually know? The ancients 
had a god for everything. The Trinitarians have one 
monstrous body with three enormous heads. The 
Unitarians have a one headed God. Now Nature is 
the oldest one we have, and the only one we know 
anything about or have ever seen, unless it be proved 



86 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

that Moses saw the posterior part of one once upon a 
time. ' ' 

A good elderly Quaker on the platform, seemed to 
think things were going not exactly to his liking. 
He arose, at the same time prefacing that he had 
nothing much to say. He contrived to give us 
words, set to the traditional tone, for ten minutes, till 
the chairman called time up. 

Thorn, of North Carolina, sprang to his feet and 
said, "On the Temple of Isis was this inscription, 
' I am that which was, which is, and ever will be.' " 
He declared that everybody is better than anybody, 
and wiser than anybody, and thought by massing 
our goodness and combining our wisdom, we might 
by searching find out God. He concluded by re- 
marking that we were mostly cowards, and that few of 
us would dare to say what none will choose to hear. 

The "Judge," who was called to the floor, quoted 
the inscription on the portals of the Wagner Free 
Institute of Science — *' Cave Deus Adest," " Be cau- 
tious ; God is here," yet the man who founded the 
institution, and had such a sense of the omnipresence 
of Deity has been branded an atheist. 

An old gentleman named Harvey, whom some 
called a crank, whatever that may mean in such a 
place, said the men who gave us the two essays were 
ministers for many years, and ought to be well ac- 
quainted with God and Religion, but had really told 
us very little. 

Mr. Edward M. Davis said, it often is seen that 
some things appear harsh and unpleasant to our 
ears, which if set to music or delivered in a dif- 
ferent manner would be quite acceptable. He spoke 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 87 

too low, and Miss Anthony called out, in her ringing 

voice : "You can speak louder, Mr. Davis ; you are 

not a woman." 

Mr. Davis, responded good naturedly that he had 

been taken for one. He had just received a letter 

directed "Mrs. Edward M. Davis." He said he 

took it as a compliment to his well known sympathy 

with the injustices to the sex. Mr. Davis closed his 

speech by giving his creed, which he said was not 

original with himself, Justinian, the Roman, having 

promulgated it hundreds of years ago : 

" How pleasant it is at the end of the day 
No follies to have to repent ; 
But reflect on the past, and be able to say 
That the time has been properly spent." 

A banquet, fit for the gods, waited our presence in 
the cool sunshine. Then followed quiet walks and 
talks with old friends and introductions to new ones. 

Promptly at 2 o'clock Clerk Hinckley, who looks 
for all the world like Gen. Logan seen through the 
smaller end of the telescope, called the meeting to 
order. 

The Rev. Mr. Bell took the platform on Prison Re- 
form. He began by reading long and tedious extracts 
from some published works on the subject. When at 
last he laid these aside, and talked to us face to face 
about the object of imprisonment, and Sir Walter 
Crofton's system, he became interesting and instruct- 
ive. When he had concluded, an old man arose to 
speak. He was evidently very unpopular, for his 
neighbors immediately began to go out one by one. 
We went also. The last words we heard from him 
were sadly said : 



88 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

" I move the people when I speak ; 
For when I get up, away they sneak." 

Towards night the clouds gathered thick and fast. 
They were very black and big, but only filled with 
wind, the weatherwise ones said. 

After an early supper five of us who had been in- 
vited to Kennett Square, to a reception given in honor 
of Miss Anthony and Mrs. Sewall, set out in one car- 
riage, and with a single horse, for the village. The 
combined weight of the load must have been about 
eight or nine hundred, and we trembled when we ob- 
served how far from strong our vehicle was, and how 
dashing and spirited the young horse that drew it. 
Fortunately we soon met a carriage which had been 
sent after us, and we divided our load the better to 
conquer the distance. 

The entertainment provided for our delectation was 
of such a delightful character that lo o'clock came all 
too soon. 

We drove home through pitch darkness, obliged to 
trust to the superior instinct of the horses to find the 
way. Darkness may endure for a night, but the 
morning is sure to dawn. 

That Saturday from sunrise to sunset was one of 

the most perfect of days. The sky was bright and 

clear. The temperature exactly right. 

" Here hath been dawning another blue (bright) day, 
Think wilt thou let it slip useless away ?" 

Woman Suffrage and Temperance were the twin 
topics for this last day. Miss Antnony spoke first. 
With her really Venus-like figure she has a most 
saintly face. In spite of persecution and slander she 
has preserved the sweetest spirit. Ivcaning affection- 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 89 

ately ou her arm as she approached the speaker's desk, 
was a youug lady who was introduced to us as the 
daughter of the Providence friend that lately be- 
queathed to Susan B. Anthony the legacy of $24,000 
to be used for herself and the cause. 

In her speech Miss Anthony said : "The time is 
past for women to talk much about suffrage. This is 
the time to work. We must do as men do when they 
determine to carry a measure. We must lobby. This 
will take money. Very well ! Women are entitled 
to that too." 

She told how Lucretia Mott once said to her, '*I 
am going to give thee $50 to carry on the work." 
Then turning to James Mott, she said, "Out of that 
corner of thy pocket-book where thee puts my pay for 
keeping the house, mending thy clothes, etc., please 
hand Susan the money." Every married woman has 
the same fund to draw from if she will only claim it. 
Mrs. Sewall followed in a brilliant ofF-hand speech, 
I think she never fails in carrying her audience with 
her. The choir sang, to a most lugubrious tune. 
" This world is growing brighter." 

We were fore-ordained to have the whole galaxy of 
feminine wit and talent on that auspicious occasion. 
Miss Eastman, with her smiling face and powerful 
frame, came forward. What a pity, for the good of 
the race, that these superior women are not mothers. 
Facts show that much more depends, intellectually, 
upon who is the mother of a child than upon who is 
the father. Great men are often the progenitors of 
feeble-minded children ; strong-minded women never. 
Miss Eastman said woman's position in the govern- 
ment reminded her of a little story. It occurred in 



90 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

their own family. A little girl who was staying at 
the house was refused some indulgence which she 
craved. She sat in sullen silence for awhile, then 
raising her eyes to the person who had refused her, 
she said, with a vengeful look, " I like my Aunt 
Jones." "Ah ! so do I," was the reply. "I love 
Mrs. Snodgrass, too, ' ' proceeded the little girl. " Yes 
she is nice," answered the lady. "I left you out," 
said the spiteful child. "We are simply 'left out,' 
ignored in the lists and arrangements," said Miss 
Eastman. And then in a most masterly manner she 
went on to show how much better it would be for aV 
concerned if women were not " left out." 

Mr. Thorn followed with a quotation from Andrew 
Jackson's maxim, " Hurt no one, and render to every 
one his due." But even old Jackson — "Hickory" 
they called him, on account of his strength and firm- 
ness — even he did not apply this rule to one-half the 
community. 

The Judge, as was quite proper, summed up the 
evidence of the morning and closed the debate. 
Although he professes not to know one card from 
another, he very aptly used cards as an illustration. 
He characterized the three ladies each as a queen in 
her own right. Miss Anthony was Queen of Clubs, 
and gave us blows and knock-down arguments. He 
might have added she was Queen of Spades also, and 
could work as well. Mrs. Sewall was Queen of 
Hearts, and ruled by sweet persuasiveness. And, 
finally. Miss Eastman was the Queen of Diamonds, 
clear-cut, sharp and incisive. 

Then we had James G. Clark's song of "The 
Beautiful Hills," and it was noon again. 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 9I 

Outside the clang of plate and knife and fork began. 
There were tables at which one could stand, tables at 
which one could sit ; table cloths spread on the grass, 
and even carriages were turned into dining rooms. 
The stranger was welcome to any and to all. Food 
seemed as free as air or water. 

" The turnpike road to people's hearts I find 
Lies through their mouths, or I mistake mankind." 

There was only one place where we were expected, 
or even allowed to pay for anything, and that was at 
the ice cream stand. We were astonished to see that 
the committee had permitted cigars and cigarettes to 
be sold there. Tobacco is the twin abomination of 
rum, and we should as soon sell or use one as the 
other. The narcotic in its reaction calls for the stimu- 
lant as naturally as pie calls for cheese. 

In the cemetery across the road we sought out 
Bayard Taylor's grave. The monument bears two 
signs which "the parson" told us were of Egyp- 
tian origin, one meaning "born" and the other 
''died." 

On Saturday, and particularly in the afternoon, 
much the larger number of people were in att^endance. 
Many swarthy men, with sun-burnt necks and faces, 
showed the farmer element preponderated. Several 
sat inside with their hats on, and one prudent man 
retained his whip in his hand through all the meeting. 
There were many more people than could get into the 
meeting house. Many of the young men and maidens 
seemed glad of an excuse to stay outside, and make 
love to each other in either shade or sunshine. On 
this day there was an assemblage of the prettiest and 
gayest bonnets seen this season. Many of the girls 



92 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

wlio wore them were pretty, too ; and all seemed glad 
and happy. 

The afternoon session, the last of the meeting, 
opened with the invitation, " Abide with Me." We 
felt no objection, especially since the " lines had fallen 
to us in such pleasant places." 

The report of the Committee on Necrology was 
called for. Of six persons who had been prominent 
in last year's meeting and had departed, loving 
memorials were read. 

These memorials had been prepared by different 
parties, but all agreed in this — the expression of a be- 
lief that the life which had ceased here was continued 
beyond the grave. We were pleased to note that the 
bereaved families had made no difference in their dress, 
and that their whole expression and manner indicated 
a real, living faith in the doctrine of the continuity 
of life. Alice Carey's hymn on the death of her sister 
was sung as a solo, and afterward the question of 
Temperance was discussed. Miss Anthony was en- 
tirely at home here. The only way to effect that de- 
sired reform was through woman suffrage. "Look," 
she said, "at St. John's audiences and followers. 
Their number ought to move the nation, but four- 
fifths of them are women ! They have no vote ! They 
do not count." They are ' left out.' " 

The "Judge" took the floor, agreeing with Miss 
Anthony in the main, accepting woman suffrage, both 
as a justice and as a political necessity ; but he wished 
all to recognize the fact that " Prohibition does not 
prohibit." Even when the Temperance party have 
added to their power by the ballot in the hands of 
women, it will be necessary to declare intoxicatine 




Now AM) IHKN IT WA?* A KKKJIIT Y( H'N(i (il I! I.. 

[See page it) 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 93 

liquors contraband. Put it beyond the pale of pro- 
tection by law ; make the collection of its debts 
impossible; allow no insurance to be paid on its build- 
ings for manufacture or for sale. Contraband is the 
term by which we must label all these things that 
make such havoc in our land to-day. Last year, when 
Massachusetts took half a million dollars revenue for 
strong drink, the Queen of Madagascar wrote in her 
proclamation: " I cannot consent, as your Queen, to 
take a single cent of revenue from that which destroys 
the souls and bodies of my subjects." 



AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER IN THE 
WHITE MOUNTAINS. 

CHAPTER VI. 

" The best laid plans of men and mice gang oft aglee." 

THE party who took " the drive up the Delaware " 
had planned to drive Lex and his new mate, 
Oscar, all the way to New Hampshire, We were to 
have occupied two or three weeks in the journey, and 
were anticipating a delightful time, when poor Lex 
met with a serious accident which disabled him from 
traveling for a month. The consequence was, the 
horses were sent to grass and we came on the cars. 

When we left the city the thermometer was stand- 
ing among the nineties in the shade. The people 
whom we left behind laughed at our load of wraps, 
our overcoat and blanket shawls. They said we might 
possibly need those things about next November. 
Long before sundown of that same day we put on the 
first installment of extra clothing. 

At Bethlehem Junction, where we had to wait more 
than half an hour for the little narrow-gauge train 
which was to bring us farther up, we gladly put on 
all the wraps we had along, and before we reached 
our hotel we wished for our furs. The temperature 
was then down to forty. The northwest wind blew 
and moaned and whistled and rattled. We had en- 
tered upon the remnant of a three days' storm, but the 

(94) 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 95 

skies were now clearing and the natives promised us 
settled weather soon. 

A cozy room, with windows looking in four direc- 
tions and commanding a most magnificent landscape, 
awaited our reception. In the evening we saw only 
land from our windows, but in the morning a mirage 
made a grand river that wound in and out among the 
hills and through the valleys. The average August 
temperature is about that of May in New York. The 
air is clear and bracing, the water pure and sparkling. 
There is little temptation for any other stimulation, 
and yet, they say, stronger beverages may be obtained, 
by those who persist in retaining their coarser ap- 
petites. This portion of the population feel forced to 
" affect a virtue though they have it not," and so keep 
their indulgencies from the light of day, at least from 
public observation. 

Bethlehem is externally about the cleanest place in 
the whole world. The quiet and repose is like that 
of a perpetual Sunday elsewhere, and yet there is 
nothing of the straight-laced and Puritanic atmos- 
phere. In all these weeks we have seen nothing of the 
" I am holier than thou " spirit ; nothing of pride or 
display in dress or purse. 

This place is the centre of the most delightful 
drives, and parties are made up for the Tally Ho, or 
the omnibus, or straw ride, from the guests of one 
house or of half a dozen boarding houses or hotels. 
The general longing seems to be — "Out of doors 
somewhere, anywhere," just to have some excuse for 
drinking in this delicious air, and bathing in this 
glorious sunshine. 

This village has one broad street with three miles 



96 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

of board walk. Looking down this long avenue one 
has the best possible view of the presidential range of 
mountains. During the last days of August, Mount 
Washington was crowned with snow which could be 
plainly seen at this distance of twenty-two miles. 

Our first excursion was to the Franconia mountains, 
and included Echo lake, the Profile house, the Flume 
and Pool. The day dawned bright and clear. A 
congenial party of three from Maine were to accom- 
pany us. A large double carriage was provided for 
our pleasure, and a pair of handsome black horses, 
which the Judge had volunteered to drive, stood 
champing their bits. The whole household stood 
watching from the piazzas. 

"Take your waterproofs along ! " some one called 
out. 

"What for, I'd like to know?" we asked, glancing 
up at the bright blue sky. 

"You may need them," answered the wiseacre. 

The road was smooth, although of course, hilly. 
The birds sang gaily ; the choke-cherries hung tempt- 
ingly near in deceitfully luscious-looking clusters ; 
the delicious odor of the pine woods drew forth the 
following Latin verse which your learned readers can 
translate at their leasure : 

" Inpine taris 

Inoaks noneis, 
Inmud eelsare 
Inclay noneare." 

Our first halt was made at Echo lake where we 
were invited to seat ourselves in a miniature steam- 
boat, sail out to the middle of this dainty bit of water- 
scenery and listen to the reverberations of the whistle 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 97 

as it was echoed and re-echoed from the sides of the 
lofty mountains. 

Next we came to the Profile house — a veritable 
palace in the wilderness ! It is built in a cliflf-enwalled 
basin more than 1,900 feet above the level of the sea. 
It has rooms for 500 guests. It has its own post office, 
telegraph lines, etc., and makes its own gas. Beyond 
the Profile house we begin to look for the Profile it- 
self, the marvel that gives name and fame to the 
whole region. We all exclaimed at once as the im- 
pressive phenomenon bursted upon our sight. The 
Judge brought his fiery steeds to a standstill so sud- 
denly as almost to take them off their feet. The like- 
ness to the human face is perfect. Twelve hundred 
feet above the base of Mount Cannon, three projecting 
granite ledges extending still upwards forty feet form 
the massive features ! No wonder ancient Indian 
tribes worshiped it as a god. 

The lovely lake below with its dainty boats, em- 
bowered coves, and delicious trout, would in any other 
place, have attracted our admiring attention ; but in 
that grand presence we had eyes only for "the old 
man of the mountain." 

A drive of five miles further brought us to another 
great natural wonder, the Flume. Leaving our car- 
riage at the Hotel de Flume, we ascended broad in- 
clines of granite " over whose shining slope," in the 
language of the guide book, " the water slips in thin 
crystal sheets." We dipped our ungloved hands in 
the little hollows where the water gathered deepest, 
and drank a fluid clear as crystal and of undoubted 
purity. 

The famous Flume is a trench seven hundred feet 



98 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

long and on an average fifteen feet wide, between 
parallel perpendicular clifis sixty feet high. A sim- 
ple mountain brook has, in the course of ages, thus 
cut and eaten its way through these stone ledges. 
Returning to the hotel down one hill and up a much 
longer one, we partook with sharpened appetites of a 
dinner that would otherwise have been far from satis- 
factory. 

After dinner all our party except the Judge went to 
see another of nature's freaks, this one called the 
Pool. A little path through fragrant woods led to it. 
The Pemigewasset river, only just starting out in life, 
illustrates the folly and impetuousity of youth by 
leaping down in a brilliant cascade, making a pool a 
hundred feet broad, and then running away in a suc- 
cession of rapids. 

An old man in a rude boat rows you out under the 
cascade, and as you gaze upwards at the black cliffs 
which tower at such a height above, you can almost 
imagine yourself in the bottomless pit, save that the 
water is so transparent and there is no smoke from the 
torment. 

By this time clouds were gathering fast, and know- 
ing it was high time we should start back on our four- 
teen mile drive towards Bethlehem, we had hurried 
to the hotel. 

We had been homeward bound a half hour or more 
when the rain descended. Then we were glad we had 
our rubber wraps along. The ' ' member from Maine, ' ' 
quickly adjusted the curtains of the carriage and we 
came on comfortably and cosily as could be. 

It is amazing how many hotels set themselves up 
in this region and successfully, too, making a little 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 99 

world by themselves, with only some unique view as 
their special stock in trade, and a grand centre for 
drives and walks as a general attraction. In this list 
we may mention the Forrest hills, the Sunset, the 
Twin mountain and many others. 

In plain sight from our bay window in Bethlehem, 
and yet five miles away by the road, is the bright little 
village of L^ittleton. Its early name was Chiswick, 
but in an unlucky moment it was changed to the less 
mellifluous and unromantic one. Otherwise it might 
now have become one of fashion's summer capitals. 
Its vast panorama of mountains includes the principal 
peaks of two great ranges. 

Littleton is the great business centre of northern 
New Hampshire. Bethlehem visitors are obliged to 
bank at Littleton ; this necessity makes a delightful 
excuse for a very delightful drive. 

There is one very curious thing that all housekeepers 
must notice, namely, the absence of any display of 
provisions. In all the weeks of our stay we have seen 
nothing but one fish cart belonging to a Littleton 
company, and one morning early some pails of fresh 
milk. When last Sunday they gave us roast turkey 
for dinner, we ventured to inquire whence it came, and 
was informed it had been frozen in the ice house since 
last January. 

The U. S. Hay-fever Convention held its annual 
meeting the first of September. It was a sort of ex- 
perience meeting or hay fever love feast. Most of 
the members talked through their noses, probably 
from long habit, as they all declared themselves ex- 
empt from any symptoms in Bethlehem. 

The Judge made one of the most happy oflfhand 

L.ofC. 



lOO THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

Speeches. It was in some parts very amusing. It 
seriously advocated the use of the Turkish bath, com- 
bined with electrical treatment. 

President Fay advised the young ladies present to 
accept hay fever husbands so they could come to these 
lovely mountains every summer. 

"A baby in the house is a well-spring of pleasure." 
There has only been one in this house all the season, 
but she is a darling. She is a plump, rosy little 
creature only two years old, yet puts to blush the older 
maidens when in her dignified baby way she says so 
sweetly "mother" while the grown girls of uncer- 
tain age simper " mamma." 

With the party from Maine we climbed Mount 
Agassiz. The view was so extensive the Parson 
thought it might be the "exceeding high mountain " 
on which Satan took the son of Mary when he showed 
him all the kingdoms of the world. We were only 
2,042 feet high at Agassiz. We longed to ascend the 
highest peak, Mount Washington, towering 6,293 ^^^^ 
above the sea level. 

To Sylvester Marsh is due the honor of projecting 
the marvelous railroad that carries passengers from 
the base to the summit. It is said when the plan was 
laid before the legislature they suggested he should 
extend it to the moon ! It really seems as if he might 
have done that almost as easily as overcome the ob- 
stacles he has in this steep ascent. Often the incline 
is like the roof of a house, but the funny little engine 
tugs away pushing the car steadily upwards. The 
principle on which it works is that of the " pinion and 
rack," a distinguished Philadelphia machinist ex- 
plained to us. 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. Id 

It requires great faith in iron not to have your hair 
stand on end as you are made to mount the slender 
trestle work of "Jacob's ladder.'' 

" This really seems like tempting Providence." I 
heard a man with a pale face say. 

One of our party, an octogenarian from Philadelphia, 
was about the calmest man among us. I think he 
fancied himself being borne to Heaven like Elijah in 
a chariot of fire. 

At the base of the mountain we observed beautiful 
maples, elms, oaks and poplars, all in their gorgeous 
autumnal colors. Suddenly these disappeared, anc 
spruces, firs and pines monopolized the region. These 
gradually decreased in size till only a very stunted 
growth with lateral spreading branches appeared. 
They seemed to know that their only chance of life 
lay in hugging closely to the bare rocks. Even the 
telegraph poles to the signal station, high up on the 
sides, are little more than four feet high. It was al- 
ready winter weather at the Tip Top house. 

Looking out from the observatory the reporter ex- 
claimed : " It is one vast sea of land ! ' ' 

"Yes, and in a state of storm at that," answered 
the judge. "See the wave on wave, the billow be- 
yond billow. 

" Tints of divine painting in mingled splendor lie " 
all along the sides and tops of these glorious heights. 

In descending to the lower world we felt that we 
had been nearer Heaven than we might hope to be 
again while still encumbered with this mortal coil. 



A RIDE BY RAIL ALONG THE RIVER. 
CHAPTER VIL 

OPENING THE NEW KITTATINNY HOUSE, DELAWARE 
WATER GAP. 

THE invitations were for dinner at two o'clock, 
June 28th. The train was advertised to leave 
Broad Street station at 8:20 A. M. At Trenton we 
changed cars to the Belvidere railroad. 

A few grumblers who were on board said "Dela- 
ware Water Gap can never be a first-class resort till, 
like Kaaterskill, it has through trains and parlor cars 
of its own." 

The conductor at one end of the car, and a hand- 
some blue-eyed brakeman at the other, called out 
simultaneously, "Asylum, all out for the insane 
asylum ! " 

Nobody moved. We did not wish to go to the In- 
sane Asylum. Some of us mildly protested against 
such a general order. We had started for a grand 
dinner and a genuine frolic and had no notion of be- 
ing thus summarily stopped in our mad career after 
pleasure. 

Again the command was repeated: "All out for 
Asylum ; the Insane Asylum." 

Then one meek looking lady, in deep cheap mourn- 
ing, languidly arose and went out, and our train 

(102) 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. IO3 

moved on. Tiie sight of a person in deep mourning 
is always saddening ; and about the cheap black which 
poor folks wear, there is something indescribably piti- 
ful. 

The parson was with us ; and remarked on the in- 
congruity of a Christian wearing black for the dead. 

"Would they array themselves in sackcloth and 
ashes for a friend who had sailed for Europe?" he 
asked; "yet how much nearer and more delightful 
may be the Heaven to which they believe their be- 
loved have departed." 

The judge who was present, not particularly relish- 
ing pious and funereal talk, suddenly changed the 
subject by remarking, "Why did they not name that 
station after the founder of that institution, Miss Dix? 
It would have been an honor well deserved." 

"Yes," said the doctor, who happened to be along, 
it would have been easy to call the place Dixie, and 
then when I give you a certificate to the Asylum you 
can sing : 

" For Dixie's land I take my stand, 
To live and die in Dixie." 

"They have queer names in this part of the coun- 
try," observed the lawyer, as the handsome brakeman 
called out. 

"Will Bertha." 

" Will Bertha do what? Will she make her will, I 
suppose. ' ' 

Washington crossing the Delaware was next an- 
nounced ; and the judge had to tell of the tipsy man 
who got it, " Crossington washing the Delaware." 

Our route lay mostly on the east bank of the river 
with the canal along side, and we stopped at almost 



I04 THE WEvST-BROOK DRIVES. 

every little flag station all the way. The smaller the 
place the larger the name. Some of them were so 
small they had two names, thus Byrum or Point 
Pleasant, Stockton or Centre Bridge. 

At one place the only passenger that appeared to be 
in waiting was a kitten. The judge, who was in- 
clined to be facetious, asked if we had ever seen an 
animal called acatamost ; and we innocently said 
" No," he pointed to that kitten ! 

One place was called Tumble, and we congratulated 
them on their originality. Their post oflBice will hard- 
ly be likely ever to be in danger of being confoundec' 
with places of the same cognomen in the different 
states and counties. 

We were so busy watching the small craft on the 
river, its low barren isles, and its island farms, the 
canal boats with their loads of freight and families, the 
mules plodding along on that one-sided affair, the tow- 
path, that we had paid little attention to our fellow 
travelers outside our own immediate party. Suddenly 
we became painfully aware that we were the subject 
of discussion. The lady doctor looked anxiously at 
her dusty dress, the parson fastened another button 
in his clerically-cut coat, the judge ran his fingers 
coaxingly through his gray locks ; the lawyer and the 
reporter were the only ones that seemed invulnerable 
to the stares and the whispers of those people. 

After a while we found out, they had mistaken our 
parson for the celebrated Brooklyn divine, Henry 
Ward Beecher, whom he so greatly resembles in out- 
ward appearance. 

Easton and Belvidere are among the few places that 
look attractive from the railroad. The country about 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. IO5 

was fine, too. The ripe uncut harvests were the color 
of old gold. 

At a place called Manunka Chunk our car was cut 
off from the train and we were told that it would be 
taken by the next New York train up the Delaware & 
Lackawanna road. We were shifted about from pillar 
to post, and finally put into a hole in the hill. There 
was not a lamp in the car, nor a single ray outside. We 
wondered the children did not scream from nervous 
fright. Everybody was as still as death till after some 
minutes when we were again restored to the day, the 
parson was heard quoting, '* They who sat in darkness 
saw great light." 

We intend to take a lantern, or at least a candle 
along, the next time I go over that route. All that 
maneuvering must have been meant either to amuse 
the adults, or to scare the little ones ; for when at last 
the train came, we were told to change cars again. 
This made three changes in four hours' travel. It 
was noon when we reached the Gap. Carriages and 
omnibuses were waiting decked with the national flag 
like the 4th of July. 

The teams speedily took the joyous guests through 
the little village, up over the high hill, and down into 
the little nest of a valley just big enough to hold this 
big hotel that is perched still two hundred feet above 
railroad and river. 

"William A. Brodhead & Sons" is still the firm's 

name, although the honored father passed from mortal 

view several years ago. The two sons, large, fine- 

ooking men, met us cordially as we alighted from the 

carriages. 

Crowds of people already occupied the broad piazzas, 



I06 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

and we thought with dismay of the great number of 
loaves and fishes it would take to feed so large a 
multitude. Presently, to the great relief of our hungry 
apprehensions, parties by pairs and by dozens, began 
wending their way up among the quiet recesses of the 
mountains. Each little company was bearing signifi- 
cant boxes and baskets, evidently containing " noon- 
day exercises." These people were from the country 
towns around about the Gap, who had come to gratify 
their curiosity about the reconstructed hotel, see the 
city guests, and then have a private picnic of their 
own. 

We took courage and waited patiently till two 
o'clock. Then Coggswell's orchestra struck up a 
grand march, the doors were thrown open, and our 
host led the way to the spacious dining room. 

After a sumptuous repast we found strength to ex- 
amine the improvements and the new building. The 
elegant elevator made the ascension to the top stories 
easy. 

The day was perfectly clear, and the views from 
some of the upper windows were charming. The 
scenery, combining as it does, both mountain and 
river, leaves nothing to be desired. 

Polite attendants, electric bells, airy verandas, easy 
seats, downy pillows and spring beds, go far to make 
up for the absence of one's own special home comforts. 
There was one omission, one thing lacking for which 
we found it hard to forgive the architects — there were 
no closets and no wardrobes. So far as we saw there 
was absolutely no provision in the new part made for 
hanging up things. We tried to utilize the gas fix- 
ture, but it had a sharp point that made holes in coats 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. IO7 

and dresses. Like the Irishman in the story, we had 
to hang our hats up on the floor. Meanwhile the par- 
son, the dear philosopher that he is, consoled us by 
saying, " If we could have everything perfect here we 
should never want to go to Heaven." 

In the evening a grand hop was had. Ladies and 
gentlemen in full dress came down from the Gap house 
and the smaller hotels and boarding houses. Till 
nearly midnight the music of the waltz, the polka, the 
lanciers and the quadrille, sounded merrily through 
the halls. Those who, like the judge and the parson, 
do not dance, thought something more intellectual 
should have been provided for their entertainment. 
Recitations, extempore speeches, even games, would 
have been more to the taste of some. There was 
ample room and opportunity for all to have been suited 
if only there had been some one to kindly take the 
lead and arrange matters. 

Sunday morning the singing of the birds, and the 
romping of the children, who had been excluded from 
the evening ball, aroused us from our dreams. 

We had accepted a pressing invitation to attend the 
Presbyterian service at the village, but owing to some 
misunderstanding about the time of starting, we had 
the chagrin of seeing out of our chamber windows, 
just as we were putting the finishing touches to our 
toilet, the omnibus with its load of church goers, drive 
oflf without us. 

Then we concluded to go up into the mountain to 
pray, and so started for Child's arbor. The attempt 
was an ignominious failure. At the first steep ascent 
the judge, who is somewhat corpulent, gave out, and 
declared himself getting dizzy ; the parson remem- 



I08 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

bered that he had a treatise on ancient polemics which 
he was anxious to peruse ; the doctor had a case on 
hand and wanted to read up on diseases of the ear ; 
the lawyer was non est ; and your reporter was weary. 
So our whole party, looking and feeling not a little 
ashamed of themselves, were soon back at the hotel. 

At evening when the sun was down and the sky 
was gorgeous with glowing colors, in the cool of the 
day, we walked to the Gap house to see some friends. 
We were told that " divine service " was to be held in 
the parlors, and we were urged to remain. A hundred 
people or more, ' ' which mostly were women, of 
course," were assembled together when the young 
priest entered with measured pace. His fine propor- 
tions were draped in white flowing robes. ' * That is 
the paraphernalia of Isis, the goddess of linen," 
whispered the old-time parson with the new-time ideas. 

A piano was forced to do duty in place of the solemn 
organ. A lady presided, and several persons too timid 
to let their voices out were clustered about to aid in 
the chants and responses. 

"Episcopalians should be good singers," said the 
judge; "these are not." Some colored waiters, 
dressed in their Sunday suits, were looking wistfully 
in. The proprietor, Mr. Luke Brodhead, kindly in- 
vited them to seats in the impromptu sanctuary. 

By their aid the music was somewhat improved. The 
short sermon, which was, as one lady expressed it, 
"long enough, such as it was," and then fearing that 
she had been too severe, she added, "It was good 
enough what there was of it." 

The subject was faith. 

Our parson's criticism on it was, " He makes faith 



THE WKST-BROOK DRIVES. I09 

a matter of the imagination, a mere mental conception 
of an unseen reality ; whereas faith should be the re- 
sult of conviction founded on evidence. ' ' 

On returning toward the Kittatinny we found that, 
depending upon the young moon, they had neglected 
to light the lamps which usually mark the way. The 
deep shadows of the trees shut out the faint natural 
light ; the numerous paths to our unfamiliar eyes 
looked all alike ; and for a while we were " babes lost 
in the woods." Fortunately the judge had prudently 
brought along a strong hickory cane, and he wisely 
advised that we should not attempt to walk by faith, 
such as we had just heard preached ; but that we 
should carefully feel our way along, make sure of the 
ground on which we stood, and so by the aid of his 
strong stick reach the desired haven in safety ; and 
this we accordingly did. 

There is a sense of newness, if one may so speak, 
pbout the Kittatinny contrasted with the Water Gap 
House, which one feels, as travelers tell us they do 
between the old countries and America. We miss the 
finishing touches which art, and taste, and mature ex- 
perience are sometime to give to the nev/er place. 

At the hotel Kaaterskill the grand old Hudson river 
is only a silver ribbon stretched over the distant val- 
ley ; while at the Kittatinny the Delaware is a living 
presence, an ever present factor in the great sum of 
its attractions. 

The mountains just now are literally crowned with 
laurel in the most exquisite tints of bud and bloom. 
Huge bouquets of daisies, of laurel, and of delicate 
ferns, adorned the parlors and tables. 

We could not sing. 



no THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

" I know a place where the wild thyme grows." 

but we found a profusion of laurel blossoms. It was 
in the basket of a little maiden at the depot whence 
we took the 6:30 Monday morning train to Phila- 
delphia. She sold the flowers at ten cents a bunch. 
We bought one and bore it proudly home. Nobody 
in town knows that we did not pluck it from the high- 
est peak of Mount Minsi. 

At that early hour on Monday morning the sun was 
shining brightly and there was not a hint of a cloud on 
the mountain's brow ; but six miles away we encoun- 
tered a fog that was almost like rain. 

By the time we reached Assanpink river the sun- 
light gleamed out faintly. The judge, who was ac- 
quainted with this part of the country told us this was 
an Indian name and meant the willow stream. He 
said General Washington marched from this point to 
Princeton early in the morning ; and that during the 
battle of Trenton the Assanpink ran red with blood. 

The reporter, who gets history a little mixed some- 
times, and w^ho took this all in as one continuous 
story, replied that if George was called at 5 o'clock in 
the morning before he had his nap out, and had to eat 
a cold breakfast, and go through such a fog as we had, 
it was no wonder he felt mad enough to fight. 

We had only one little excitement on the way back, 
and that was occasioned by the forward door of our 
car getting fast so it could not be opened from our side. 
The conductor and brakman both happened to be in- 
side. We were going at the rate of thirty or forty 
miles an hour ; the engine blew a loud whistle, and 
the brakeman attempted to go forward, but was 
stopped by the unyielding latch. The conductor tried 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. Ill 

his keys but without effect. They essayed to raise the 
window at the end but that was fast too. If only 
somebody would come from the other cars, but no- 
body came. Finally they succeeded in taking out the 
closet window at that end, and the brakeman crawled 
through to the platform. From the outside, the door 
was feasily opened, and everybody breathed freely once 
more. 

Without further incident and no accident, we at lo 
A. M., found ourselves safely landed back again at 
Broad street station, and like John Gilpin, 

" Nor stopped till where we had got up, 
We did again get down." 



A SUMMER DRIVE. 
CHAPTER VIII. 

THE party that three years ago took the drive up 
the Delaware, namely, the old-time parson with 
the new-time ideas, the lawyer, the judge, the lady 
doctor, and your reporter, resolved on a much longer 
trip, even as far as the White Mountains this time. 

Instead of the one horse, Lexington, they resolved 
to take also his handsome mate, Oscar Wilde. The 
old phaeton, with its annex attached for the baggage, 
and a new brace here and there to insure strength, 
with a few touches of paint and a gilding of varnish, 
would still do very well for the journey. It was easy 
to get into, and unlike marriage, the parson said, it 
was also easy to get out of. *' How funny," said the 
parson, "I can tie a knot with my tongue which you 
cannot untie with your teeth, no matter how much 
you want to." The phaeton was perfectly comfort- 
able, although it had a trick of seeming too small 
when we first got into it ; but as soon as the "judge " 
had settled his magnificent proportions into their 
own proper niche, there was plenty of room for all. 

In consequence of being detained in town longer 
than we expected it became necessary to get over the 
first few hundred miles as soon as possible. We 
therefore determined to go by sea as far as Boston, 
making that, instead of Philadelphia, our real point 
of departure for the drive. (i") 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. II3 

The morning v/e went to the wharf to engage pas- 
sage and state rooms on the Norman, we saw an ap- 
palling sight. A great crowd was fishing out from 
the river a black man who had fallen overboard from 
an incoming vessel and was drowned. As they 
hauled the dead body into the patrol wagon that was 
waiting to take it to the morgue, the brawny arms, 
in rigor mortis, with clutched hands, stood up 
straight, and the whole scene gave our party a shock 
which, added to the next day's newspapers account 
of the capsizing of the yacht from Philadelphia and 
the agonizing death of five of the pleasure seekers off 
Long Island, gave us such an unreasonable horror of 
the water voyage, that we concluded to send the 
horses on the boat but go ourselves by rail. 

Accordingly, early on the morning of August 3rd, 
the team was brought to the door, and our traveling 
traps snugly strapped on behind the carriage. Mean- 
while the restive horses were stamping and pawing 
the ground, anxious to be off. How little they knew 
where! Even we with the superior intelligence, 
could little guess what adventures, what pleasures, 
what possible perils, awaited us on the miles and 
miles of unknown road that stretched before us. 
What might, or might not, happen before we all 
should again stand on our own familiar street ! Even 
its hateful cobble-stones seemed precious to us just 
then. The parson was evidently breathing a silent 
prayer when the judge gathered up the reins, his 
man sprang in beside him, and away they went 
toward the steamship's pier. 

It was within an hour of sailing time, and such 
confusion ! Tons of iron pipe were rattling by, and 



114 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

loads of merchandise were noisily dumped on the 
dock. Large plates of steel were being thrown from 
wagons with a noise like thunder. The horses be- 
haved lovely. The groom led them on board as 
easily as if they were a couple of dogs. There they 
were backed into padded stalls, just big enough to 
hold them so when the vessel lurched there should be 
no room for them to be thrown down. Boxes of dry 
goods wedged them in front. A bale of hay was put 
for the horses comfort and delectation on top the 
boxes. The steward promised, for a consideration, to 
water them each day, and so they were left to his 
care, to the fortunes of the ship, and to the mercy of 
the winds and waves. 

Plucking a flower from some seemingly inaccessible 
height, or spearing the head of a rival lover, used to 
be the test of gallantry and courage. Our modern 
gentlemen exhibit these qualities telegraphing or 
telephoning ahead, providing comfortable quarters 
and attending to the baggage. Our gentleman tele- 
graphed to the Tremont in Boston, so that on the 
evening of our arrival there, the evening of the 4th 
of August, way-worn and weary from a car-ride of 
about 300 miles, we found our rooms in readiness, 
and were welcomed as to a home. 

As often happens in traveling by rail, we have 
gotten over the ground too rapidly ; and must now 
go back to note a few reflections by the way. There 
was not much pleasure in looking out from a flying 
steam car on fields and towns that lay scorching in 
the August sunshine, so we turned our attention to 
studies of human nature beside us. 

The good that men do sometimes comes home to 



The west-brook drives. 115 

them in a very gracious way. The first person who 
recognized us on the train was a man whom the 
judge had saved years ago from ruin and disgrace by 
helping him to help himself. Now, in mature life, 
he is a man whom other men admire, and all delight 
to honor. His grateful greeting was like a bene- 
diction. 

When two married people cease to be polite to each 
other they advertise the fact that their honey-moon is 
over. There was such a couple in the car that day. 
Two persons who had been all the world to each 
other, sat as remotely apart as they could get, and 
were chilly and silent with nothing to say, save when 
something came up about which they could dififer. 
When one wanted more ventilators open, the other 
was about to ask they might all be closed. They 
had three bright, pretty children with them, and any 
indulgence which one parent granted, the other was 
sure to oppose. 

He looked at her in a cynical way that plainly said, 

" You have cold grey eyes and a homely nose, 
And every day serves some new fault to disclose." 

The resentful toss of her head seemed to retort, 

" My pulses no longer delightfully beat 
At the thought of your coming, at the sound of your feet." 

In the transfer coach which took us from the Jersey 
City ferry to the New York depot at 42nd street, this 
interesting family accompanied us. 

When the A. T. Stewart, marble residence was 
pointed out the youngest boy asked, 

*' Who is A. T. Stewart, mamma?" making us of 
the older generations feel quite like antediluvians. 



Il6 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

A large brick building bore the sign in large g^lt 
letters, " Apartment House for Bachelors." 

"Why do old bachelors have to live by them- 
selves ? " again queried the small boy of his mother. 

" They are so spoiled and selfish, my dear, nobody 
can live with them in any sort of comfort," said that 
lady with a glance at her husband, that said as plainly 
as any words could, ' ' he was an old bachelor when I 
married him." 

Among many other things, two names struck these 
youngsters as very funny. On one door was "Dr. 
Early," and on the next was "Mr. Late, Under- 
taker." The eldest boy suggested that these were 
probably silent partners, and that by going early and 
late they were doing a thriving business. 

Seats in the =Pullman car had fortunately been se- 
cured for us in advance, as there was a great rush of 
travelers in our direction. After some hours of dis- 
comfort the lady doctor exclaimed, " No earthly per- 
son was ever such shape as these parlor cars would 
lead one to suppose. If, in some future age, the 
antiquarian shall, delving, disinter one, how he will 
wonder what manner of men and women we were. 

The man who constructed them, must himself have 
been a hunch-back. 

When the colored waiters, with stiffly starched 
white aprons, came through distributing bottles and 
glasses of liquors, the parson visibly frowned. 
"Formerly," he said, "when improvident people 
who took no flask in their pockets, traveled, they 
were obliged .to abstain between stations. Now the 
tempter goes along and is omnipresent." 

" Shall we take a little of Paul's prescription for 



THE WESTBROOK DRIVES. II7 

Timothy," asked the judge, "for our stomach's 
sake? " 

"No sir," quickly answered the lady doctor, re- 
membering the lessons in physiology, * ' for our 
stomach's sake we will refrain." 

Some one has called railway traveling a sort of 
staccato method of getting over a space ; the towns 
making a succession of dots on the memory as you 
whisk through them. 

The impression left by the dear little Yankee 
towns, is one of thrift and neatness, a glint of green 
blinds against walls of white, planted on grassy 
grounds, garnished with glowing beds of flowers. 

The New England conductor is so domestic in 
his habits he will not go so far over the road that he 
cannot get home to dinner. Therefore at stated in- 
tervals and places the set of passengers is handed 
over to a new conductor. 

"No wonder," said the judge, " these men are as 
'smiling as a basket of chips.' They haven't a 
chance to get tired and cross like our Pennsylvania 
railroad men who go hundreds of miles without stop- 
ping, or once seeing their families." 

The judge is a very domestic man himself, so this 
was to him the greatest conceivable misery. 

When we arrived in Boston a military procession 
was waiting at the station, and led the way up Tre- 
mont street. Of course our party modestly claimed 
them as our especial escort. 

At breakfast the next morning the waiters were all 
in swallow-tail coats and white neck-ties. A little 
girl amused us greatly by asking if they were going 
to a wedding or party. In the evening the same lit- 



Il8 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

tie innocent, meeting in the corridor a gentleman 
dressed for a hop, mistook him for one of the waiters, 
and asked some service from him. 

Watching from the window, waiting for the tele- 
phone to announce the arrival of the Norman with 
Lex and Oscar on board, we passed the time in criti- 
cising the people who were passing. 

How few well dressed persons you see anywhere ! 

"I never saw one so perfectly clothed but that 
some fault did wrestle with the best grace he bore." 

Yonder is a modest gray street dress spoiled of its 
virtue by a red velvet panel and silk cord, and, yes ! 
around the neck is a band and bow of pink ribbon ! 
The hat is black straw trimmed with white, which 
would have well become the simple gray dress — but, 
combined with all this, is simply grotesque. 

There goes a white dress this damp, cool morning, 
partly concealed by a long woolen ulster. 

A dress cannot be too plain for the street. It can 
easily be too guady. A dash of color may be used 
with fine effect, if only it be applied with taste and 
judgment. 

A dress that is lovely at home may be hideous out- 
side. One that is exquisite in the carriage, may be 
vulgar on the pavement. 

To be appropriately dressed is to be well dressed. 

A walk on Boston Common was proposed. The 
pond was empty — the waters all drawn off. Having 
been previously impressed by the seemingly large 
body of water, we were astonished to see how great 
a display had been made by a very shallow depth. 

Some of the trees were very conspicuously labeled 
' ' Ulmus Americano. ' ' We had supposed the average 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. II9 

Bostonian was sufficiently up in Latin to know what 
this meant ; but it was very kindly translated, prob- 
ably for the benefit of benighted Philadelphians who 
sometimes stray, as we had done, into these classic 
shades, American Elm. " Why didn't they say so in 
the first place ? " a rustic near us asked. 

It was too early for the lovers to be out in force ; 
the tramps were. They reclined half dozing on the 
benches in every conceivable stage of dilapidation 
and discouragement. 

"If I were a millionaire," said the doctor, who of 
all our little company is least supposed to be over- 
weighted with philanthropic sentiments : "if I were 
a millionaire I would devote my life to the salvation 
of tramps. I would organize a society with branches 
in every part of the country, and appoint agents 
everywhere who would, without money and without 
price, help people to help themselves. There is work 
enough and respectability enough, and comforts 
enough, for all, if only the weak and unfortunate 
were stimulated and helped in the right direction." 

One poor fellow on the Common with a face that 
was really young and handsome, with a fine figure, 
wore a boot on one foot and a shoe on the other, and 
no stocking on either. He was out at both knees 
and elbows ; and yet he smelled of rum and tobacco. 
" How do they manage to get these things when it is 
evident they have not the means to supply themselves 
with the essentials of life? " 

The judge thought there would be no way of saving 
a man who was so far gone in misery and filthy habits. 

The doctor thought it could be done. 

"How?" 



I20 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

"I would obtain an enactment of the legislature," 
said she, *' which would authorize us to take such a 
man away from himself and cure him. It would per- 
haps be necessary to use arbitrary measures at first ; 
but he would soon understand that disinterested 
benevolence was working for his good, and then he 
would become interested and assist in his own refor- 
mation." 

We all wished the doctor might come into the pos- 
session of the millions soon ; for the fields are cer- 
tainly white and ready for the harvest. 

Our hotel, overlooking as it did, an ancient burial 
ground, led to a talk on cremation, and this to a dis- 
cussion of the old dogma of a literal resurrection. 
The Pope's recent encyclical was read wherein he 
emphatically condemns the custom of cremation, as 
making it more difficult to believe, what he calls, the 
true doctrine of the church. 

The conflict between science and so-called religion 
we likened to the fight between the bull and the 
locomotive, of which a bystander said he was pleased 
with the bull's pluck, but must condemn his discre- 
tion. The Pope's bull against the comet in 1812 did 
not stop the comet. 




T.OOKI.Nfi OIT KOK A SKCOND ^WlKK. "' THE 'LolII) ONLY KNOWS WHO SHK 

IS TO HK. " HE sAiii, '■ i;rr I -irrsr n avk onk. ' ' 



SS? [Sef (.age 10] 



'A SUMMER DRIVE. 
CHAPTER IX. 

IT was the middle of the afternoon, Friday, August 
6th, when we were ready to leave Boston. 

The judge had strenuously objected to over- weigh ting 
the phaeton by any baggage with which we could pos- 
sibly dispense ; so, greatly to the doctor's dismay, 
many little conveniences, medicines, instruments, and 
plasters, in case of accident, were left to be forwarded 
to Bethlehem by express. 

We traveled almost as lightly as Grant is said to 
have done in his campaigns, with only a tooth-brush 
and a box of cigars. 

As none of our party smoked it was agreed to leave 
out the cigars and substitute a little pure liquor, in 
case of sickness, or that the water did not agree, you 
know. Accordingly a Russia leather flask was filled 
with the precious liquid and carefully placed at the 
very bottom of the bag. Of this more anon. 

The hotel men and stable men and everybody else 
seemed to have a personal interest in our getting safely 
out of Boston ; but each separate man had a different 
direction to give, until we were so perfectly confused 
we did not know what to do. The streets are so 
crooked, and the crowd of vehicles was so great, that 
it did seem almost impossible to get through with a 
prancing, snorting pair of horses without a grand 

(121) 



122 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

smash-up. We could not help feeling a little nervous ; 
but it is wonderful how often difficulties vanish as you 
approach them. 

We managed to get on the track behind a Charles- 
town car, and so were safely guided over the famous 
bridge and into the more quiet town. 

Bunker Hill monument soon appeared on our right. 

"Here Warren fell!" exclaimed the judge, and 
then told the rest of the story. 

' ' Did he ? " said the traveler ; "did it hurt him ? ' ' 

"Hurt him!" said the first speaker; "it killed 
him 1" 

" Well, I should think it would," said the traveler, 
stupidly regarding the great height of the monument. 

Harvard college next claimed our attention. Its 
high situation seemed typical of its standard of scholar- 
ship. The beauty of the buildings and the elegance 
of their surroundings, made the exclusion of woman- 
kind from its privileges seem all the more cruel. 

A talk on co-education followed the view of this in- 
stitution, but as our whole party was in its favor the 
discussion did not prove exciting. 

From Charlestown to Medford, celebrated for its 
rum, we were guided by the horse-car track. This 
was a narrow gauge road that looked as if it was in- 
tended for a line of wheelbarrows, or Liliputian 
coaches ; but when the cars came along we were sur- 
prised to see them of the usual size and well loaded, 
too. 

Passing through Winchester and Woburn, guide- 
boards pointed the way to Tewksbury. That sug- 
gested Ben. Butler's reign in Massachusetts. We 
found the prejudice against him very strong in some 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 123 

quarters, while others were loud in his praises. The 
horrors of the Tewksbury almshouse were pronounced 
by many a tale of fiction made up for political pur- 
poses. One enthusiastic person declared he'd like to 
see Butler president of these United States ; but the 
majority were in favor of consigning him to the sus- 
taining qualities of the "sour apple tree," originally 
dedicated to Jeff Davis. 

We had driven about twenty miles that bright, cool 
afternoon when near sunset we reached the pretty little 
town of Billerica. The natives pronounce it Bill-rick- 
er, accent on the first syllable, and as if they had some* 
thing else beside the word in their mouth. 

Hotel Stearns seemed inviting and there was a nice 
looking stable in the rear. There we stopped for the 
night. At one side was a lovely lawn of luxuriant 
grass. The judge led out the horses one at a time, 
and holding them by a long halter, allowed them to 
eat, and roll, and rest, and enjoy themselves. Lex 
took it very quietly, but Oscar Wilde kicked up his 
heels and pranced and played like a young colt. 

In this modest wayside inn we were surprised to find 
souvenirs of travel in Italy, choice books, bric-a-brac 
and pictures. We spent some delightful hours in ex- 
amining copies of Raphael's, Fra Angelico's, and Cor- 
regio's masterpieces. 

"Through all that land of art and song, 
Where love holds sway supreme, 
We roamed and quaffed life's richest draught, 
And lived as in a dream." 

At seven o'clock next morning we left Billerica in 

a fog that was almost like rain. We sang 

" When the mists have rolled in splendor, 
From the glory of the hills." 



124 'I'HE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

But "the sunshiue warm and tender" refused to 
" fall in kisses on the rills." The day was gray, de- 
cidedly gray. We even saw " Three gray geese in a 
green field a grazing. Gray were the geese and green 
was the grazing." 

In little more than an hour we reached Lowell. 
When we saw the carts which sprinkle the streets 
covered with flaming advertisements of Hood's sarsa- 
parilla we recalled the Irishman who exclaimed : 

"'Tis no wonder Lowell is such a healthy city, 
when even its streets are sprinkled with medicine." 

Benjamin F. Butler's handsome residence was 
pointed out to us, and also the Butler school which he 
founded in 1862, while he still had hopes of being the 
presidential candidate. 

We passed an array of beneficent institutions, but 
we likewise passed many rum shops, and we could not 
help but observe, " How much we do for charity, and 
how little to prevent its necessity ? We license men 
to manufacture paupers and criminals, and then we 
generously erect, and religiously support, places in 
which to take care of paupers and criminals." 

On approaching Lowell we had left old Concord, 
Mass., some distance to the right. The great intel- 
lectual lights of Concord have departed ; but their 
memories are still fresh and green. 

It is said that one day when Theodore Parker and 
Ralph Waldo Emerson were walking together, doubt- 
less in sweet converse on some lofty theme, a Millerite 
crank met them, and excitedly informed them the 
world was coming to an end. Parker, with a sly 
twinkle in his eye, remarked that made no difference 
to him, as he lived in Boston. Emerson, with a more 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 1 25 

serious air, answered, it would make no difference to 

him if the world did come to an end as he could live 

without it. 

At Lowell we crossed the Merrimac river, and were 

reminded of the New England bard who, with native 

modesty, exclaimed, 

"Sweet Merrimac, thy gentle stream, 
Is fit for better poet's theme." 

The old stage route from Lowell, Mass., to Little- 
ton, New Hampshire, is called the Mammoth road, 
probably from its great extent. Along this the farm 
houses were scattered, often a considerable distance 
apart ; and we met very few teams. This left us quite 
dependent on the guide boards. At almost every town 
we found one telling us how far it was to Nashua, N. 
H., and as the distance remained always nine miles, 
and we did not propose to go there at all, it became 
very amusing. 

Soon after crossing the state line we began to see 
houses and bams joined together under one roof and 
the wood shed between. The reason for this, we were 
told, is that the snows in winter are very deep ; and 
often it is impossible to get from the house to the barn 
except through the inside. Often the bank of snow 
will reach a depth of a dozen or fifteen feet, and some- 
times a tunnel is made through which the cattle are 
taken out to water. 

The country grew rapidly rocky and rough. The 
big boulders by the roadside seemed to astonish Oscar 
very much. At every one he would gracefully shy. 
The judge said it was pure affectation ; but I think he 
was actually afraid of them. 

After entering New Hampshire we found a great 



126 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

scarcity of water in consequence of the protracted 
drought. Watering troughs were plenty, but they 
were mostly empty. We were thirsty as well as the 
horses. Observing a pump at a farm house, we drove 
into the lane intending to help ourselves. L,o ! and 
behold ! the pump handle was tied up. Just then a 
woman appeared at the door and said "he tied it up, 
and might not like it if we should untie it ! " Some 
milk cans were floating in a tub, and we asked if she 
would let us have a little milk to drink. She said she 
didn't know what he'd say. The poor woman looked 
perplexed and distressed, but we were bound to have 
a drink at some rate. We produced some pieces of 
silver, and she filled some glasses, gratefully saying 
that he didn't get as much for a whole quart as we 
were giving for a cupful. The poor horses wouldn't 
take milk, and we couldn't get water, so they had to 
go thirsty. Some of us thought this was carrying 
prohibition a little too far. 

About noon we reached Ivondonderry, a very small 
place in Rockingham county. There we found a 
comfortable looking tavern. The dinner we had there 
is one of the most pleasant memories of our drive. 
We saw the landlord gather the sweet corn, and the 
cucumbers fresh from the garden, while his wife pre- 
pared the meal. It was a repast fit for the gods. We 
were just hungry enough to appreciate it. There was 
a very young lady, "sole daughter of their house and 
heart," who, in the intervals of assisting her mother 
and waiting on us, gave us some really delightful 
music on the piano. 

We were curious to know if prohibition really did 
prohibit in New Hampshire, and so questioned the 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 1 27 

landlordv He said they were very watchful in that 
town, and nobody thought of keeping an open bar. 
He finally admitted that he had a little of the real 
" lacrymachristy " in a medicine closet for the accom- 
modation of travelers. 

Nearly opposite was a grocery store run by a young 
lady in the absence of her father, and the illness of 
her brother. She was a pretty girl of about twenty. 
The judge first discovered her. He called the doctor's 
attention to her as an interesting specimen of a live 
Yankee woman who had what they call there 
"faculty." 

A well filled graveyard in the vicinity led to a talk 
with her on the diseases which had carried so many 
off. 

Miss Wallace, that was the fair storekeeper's name, 
informed us that dysentery and typhoid fever in au- 
tumn and pulmonary troubles in the winter, were 
what they suffered from mostly. 

The rigor of the climate was responsible for the lung 
difficulties ; but the doctor was not long in discover- 
ing and revealing the fact that bad drainage was the 
cause of the other diseases. It seemed really wicked 
that a place so evidently designed by nature to be free 
from all malarious influences, should be so polluted. 

As an illustration of how the spheres of life touch 
each other we will relate the following personal 
matter. 

When we complimented our host on his success, 
and told him he " knew how to keep a hotel," he re- 
plied that he was new to the business, having only 
come from merchandising, or manufacturing, I forget 
which, in Woonsocket, R. I., last year. 



128 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

Until the mention of that name we had thought our- 
selves many miles away from any one who ever knew 
us, or anybody that belonged to us. " Do you know 
our brother, Dr. A. M. Payne, of Woonsocket?" we 
asked. Fondly pointing to their daughter, the parents 
replied, almost with tears in their eyes, *' We owe her 
to his skill, and the blessing of Heaven." 

With sincere gratitude and respect, and many good 
wishes on all sides, we said good-bye, and at two 
o'clock that Saturday afternoon we resumed our drive 
along the old Mammoth road. 



I 



A SUMMER DRIVE. 
CHAPTER X. 

THE mountains now began to appear, looking like 
blue hills, they were so far away. 

The distance between the farm houses increased. 
As we were passing through a long strip of woods we 
espied two men, one on either side of the road. The 
doctor is a little nervous, and has a constitutional 
fear of highway robbers. In apprehension of some 
such emergency she had secreted a loaded pistol in a 
little hand-bag that was securely strapped on the 
dash-board. Some of the party being prominent 
members of the Universal Peace Society, would have 
objected to any such preparation until the necessity 
had presented itself When we came up to the place 
where the men were, the doctor's lively imagination 
already seeing them spring for the horses' heads and 
demanding our "money or our life," the judge de- 
liberately stopped to inquire the way. Both men 
were so drunk that neither could tell. They made 
comical efforts at articulation, but the liquor had been 
too much for them. 

The judge, of course for the information of the 
officers of the law, wanted to ask, ' ' Where did you 
get it ? " It was no use. They couldn't tell. 

A retired stage-driver whom we subsequently met, 
told us many interesting experiences which he had 
had in going over this Mammoth road. (129) 



130 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

One cold day near sunset, when he had a great load 
of passengers, one of the wheels became hot. He 
could think of nothing to do but mount one of the 
horses and ride to a point five miles oflf for some 
wagon grease. He was about to start on this errand, 
leaving his passengers waiting in the road, when one 
of the women asked if "hair-ile" wouldn't do, and 
remarked that she had some bear's grease in her 
satchel. *' That's just as good as anything," re- 
sponded the stage-driver gratefully ; and by the help 
of the "hair-ile" they soon went on their way re- 
joicing. 

One time after the famous ice storm of 1837 he 
drove over this road in a sleigh. The weight of ice 
had bent the trees on the opposite sides of the road 
till they formed an archway over it. In sunlight the 
way was perfectly gorgeous, and even by moonlight 
you seemed, he said, to be driving through a world 
made up of brilliant gems. 

At half- past four o'clock we reached Manchester, 
the queen city of New Hampshire. It has 40,000 in- 
habitants. The town is situated on the Merrimac 
river, which, besides being its chief ornament, 
furnishes the power to operate the large cotton and 
woolen factories. 

There was no closing the stores at 3, nor at 5 
o'clock that Saturday afternoon ; for most of the 
customers were working people, operatives, and this 
was their shopping time. They did not stop to dress 
up, but promenaded the streets and filled the stores 
wearing their mill clothes. 

The next morning at church time there had been 
a great metamorphosis. They had "put on their 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 131 

Sunday clothes and trimmed their caps anew." The 
women and girls wended their way to the churches ; 
but the masculine portion, we were sorry to observe, 
stood on the corners of the streets or hung about the 
beer saloons. That sweet Sunday afternoon these 
same pious, church-going girls were out walking in 
the pretty parks, or "buggy riding" with these same 
impious youths. We thought of the scripture, " Be 
ye not unequally yoked with unbelievers." 

The town has a large foreign element. Side by 
side one sees the squalor of the old world and the 
thrift of the new. 

In Manchester there were two first-class hotels to 
choose between. We went to the Windsor. In the 
absence of the landlord, attending to the summer 
hotel at Campobello, New Brunswick, the landlady 
took charge. She was a matronly, kind-hearted 
woman, fond of good living, and pleased with public 
life. lyike the virtuous woman in Proverbs, "She 
looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth 
not the bread of idleness." While making generous 
provisions, she avoided waste. In the one item of 
eggs she had learned to save many dollars each month. 
"A woman's eyes in the kitchen are worth a great 
deal," she said. The average quantity of eggs which 
her man cook had formerly used was twenty-five 
dozen per day. In a single breakfast order she one 
morning noticed that six eggs were thrown out as 
bad. Mrs. Baker, that is the lady's name, looked 
astonished. She realized that no profit was left on 
that breakfast. She went to the best egg dealer in 
town and studied up the subject. She found there 
was a sure way to tell the bad from the good. 



132 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

"How?" we asked, ourselves interested in the 
matter. 

" It is very easy," Mrs. Baker replied. 

"All that you have to do is to 'candle them,' that 
is take them into a dark room and hold them one by 
one up to the gas light." 

That Sunday morning we had the traditional New 
England breakfast of baked beans and brown bread. 
We had also fresh eggs and the most delicious 
coflfee. 

Our rooms were large and light, and prettily fur- 
nished ; yet there was one misery — they smelled of 
tobacco. The white woolen blankets looked clean, 
the lounge seemed soft, and might have been com- 
fortable, "but, oh, the smell of that not 'jasmine 
flower ; ' " that stale tobacco ! Our only relief was 
to get out into the open air. 

We took seats, in the horse cars on those narrow- 
gauge tracks and rode all through and around this 
semi-rural city. We passed immense factories, 
breweries and churches. We crossed and re-crossed 
the Merrimac river and by the Amoskeag distilleries. 
We passed tenement houses where whole families 
lived in a single room. We went through Elm 
street, and under an arch of elm trees, and saw 
elegant mansions and aristocratic Queen Anne cot- 
tages. The rum-makers and the rum-sellers dwelt in 
marble halls in lordly style ; but the poorest of the 
poor places was where the rum-drinkers lived. 

Within this semi-rural city are apple orchards and 
vineyards, vegetable gardens and corn fields. The 
beautiful Massabesic lake, not far away, supplies the 
drinking water. If all other drinks were banished 



THE WESTBROOK DRIVES. 1 33 

what a paradise this place would become. The one 
cause of poverty would be banished too. 

The narrow base on which the cars run gave to 
them a wriggling motion, which at last became tire- 
some. We were glad to get out and walk. The clear 
bracing air made that early August day seem like 
September to us. 

The only preaching we heard was in the public 
squares. It was mingled with the singing of the 
birds and the murmuring of the gentle breezes. The 
only church which we really cared to see was the First 
Methodist, founded in the last century by a relative 
of our parson ; this relative was John Brodhead, after- 
wards elected, by the legislature of the State, gov- 
ernor of New Hampshire. 

The Windsor hotel was surrounded by drinking 
saloons. Until midnight on Saturday, and all day on 
Sunday and Sunday night they were in full blast. 
That was their weekly harvest. Men came there with 
six days' earnings in their pockets, and went away 
drunk, and often penniless. One of the first sights 
we saw that bright, summer morning from our 
window, was a well-dressed, middle-aged man al- 
ready gouty, limping on his gold-headed cane, com- 
ing laboriously out of the depths of a larger beer 
saloon after taking his early dram. '* The Burgundy 
rose" had not only affected his toes, but it had like- 
wise painted his nose red, and tainted his breath. 
How strange it is that men will sacrifice not only 
health and wealth, but also their good looks, to the 
demon rum ! 

The parson took it upon himself to try and find 
out how it was that prohibition did not prohibit 



134 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

in Manchester. The only satisfaction he could get 
was, that the officers, although sworn to execute the 
law, failed to do their duty. When the evil became 
too conspicuous the only thing the officer did was to 
gently admonish the rumseller to be more quiet and 
not allow such boisterous manifestations on his 
premises. 

The fact was the new law seemed to be in advance 
of public opinion, and so was not enforced. 

The lady doctor maintained the trouble came from 
the fact that only the male half of public opinion had 
the legal power to carry out its own convictions. 

The summer patrons of the Windsor were com- 
posed mostly of commercial travelers, and they were 
made up, if one could believe the testimony of his 
nose, they must have been made up of the materials 
which give to barrooms their principal odors. 

We met there a curious case of hypochondria in 
which the patient imagined he could not sleep. The 
trouble had been induced by excessive use of nicotine. 
There were reasons why active medicines should not 
be administered. It was decided that a placebo 
should be given him in such a way as to act on the 
imagination. 

A nice little vial filled with a liquid was given to 
the patient, and he was told that ten drops would 
put him into a quiet sleep which would last all 
night. 

'lycst the attendant nurse should give one drop too 
much or too little, the patient insisted upon measur- 
ing out the precious remedy himself. His faith had 
become enlisted on the right side, and the result 
proved successful. He slept sweetly for many hours. 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. I35 

The placebo consisted of a small quantity of cold 
tea flavored with salt. 

The judge is especially fond of his horses. In this 
journey his principal anxiety was that they should be 
well cared for. It was strange how necessary his 
vigilance was. To simply give orders for their proper 
care, amounted to nothing. 

"See here Mike," said the judge, "if you don't 
give these horses four quarts of oats apiece they will 
tell me when I come back." 

"All right, sir," answered the hostler. 

After a while the judge returned to the stable. The 
horses hearing his step, whinnied. 

The Irishmen turned pale and confessed at once. 
He had divided four quarts between the two, thinking 
nobody would ever know the difference. 

It is an actual fact that some hostlers rob the poor 
dumb animals, and sell the feed which should be 
given them. We do not approve of capital punish- 
ment as a general thing ; but in such a case, we should 
say hanging is the proper punishment. 

We had a little talk with Mrs. Baker on the custom 
of "tipping" servants, and when we found that her 
views coincided with our own, of course we concluded 
she was a very sensible woman. 

"There are many objections to the practice," she 
said. " It demoralizes the very best of them. I pay 
my help a fair price for the service I expect them to 
render to my guests. If your fee induces them to 
show you any special favor, it must be at the expense 
of some other person who has equal claim on my 
hospitality. Therefore injustice is done." 

Monday morning, August 8, proved a fine one for 



136 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

traveling. We were all in better trim for having ob- 
served the day of rest. We went by a lovely road 
through Suncook village, and across Suncook river, 
a tributary of the Merrimac, to Concord, the capital. 
The distance was eighteen miles, and, as one of the 
party observed, the country through which we passed 
was thickly settled in a thin way. We did not go 
through Hooksett ; it lay at our left, forming with its 
river, and strange rocks, and surrounding hills, a most 
charming landscape. 

A delightful picnic grove was near in which happy 
people gathered for a holiday. Young men anc 
maidens, the lovers and their ladies, were dancing 
under the leafy greenwood trees, and making music 
in the sunshine. 

The houses had a prosperous, thrifty look. One of 
them was Governor Head's residence. 

The first place on our list for which we were to in- 
quire the way was Suncook. 

" Yer most to itcapen," replied the native to whom 
we had applied for information. And sure enough, 
almost at the same instant we began to hear its ten 
thousands spindles which the Merry Merrimac was 
turning. 

Our horse, L,ex, is afraid of everything which looks 
or sounds like work. He pricked up his ears and 
pranced, and showed that he was much annoyed by 
this hum of industry. 

Here we rested for awhile at a hotel which was 
new, and already shabby. It was five stories high, 
and all up stairs. 

We wondered that where land was so plenty, and 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 1 37 

must be comparatively cheap, they should preempt so 
much ethereal space. 

It had been a frequent remark with us, as we came 
along, that they gave more length of land to a mile 
of road than we had met with elsewhere. We had 
thought it was because land was so cheap. 

Blackberry bushes were in full bloom sending out 
the most refreshingly delicate fragrance. What an 
exquisite little flower this is ! It seemed sweeter and 
fairer than the wild clematis that grew near and 
mingled with it. Other flowers which we had never 
before seen so early in the season, decked the way, 
reminding us of Whittier's verse : 

" Along the rivers' summer walk 
The withered tufts of aster nod ; 
And trembles on its arid stalk, 
The gay plume of the golden rod." 



A SUMMER DRIVE. 

CHAPTER XL 

IN this part of the country they have a way of ad- 
vertising which struck us as queer. Pasted on 
gateposts, or trees, or fences, were placards announ- 
cing "A pig for sale," or "Cochin China chickens, 
inquire within. ' ' On a meeting house, were our Phila- 
delphia Forepaugh's show bills. This latter our par- 
son regarded as a sacrilege, for which, as a fellow 
townsman, he could barely help feeling some degree 
of responsibility. 

We were within sight of the capitol a whole half 
hour before we reached it. 

The Merrimac grew more like the Delaware. In 
some parts of "the old Granite state" there were 
patches of sand that made it seem as if a portion of 
New Jersey had been transported thither. 

The elm trees, the maples, and especially the white 
birches, which ornamented and shaded the road, were 
not exotics we well knew. A little Jersey girl who 
saw white birches for the first time exclaimed, "Why, 
mamma ! the farmers here whitewash their trees to the 
very tops." 

Concord is a beautiful place, built on ground that 

rises gradually from the river. It has two principal 

(138) 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. I39 

parallel streets. The capitol is built of the celebrated 
Concord granite and occupies a whole square. The 
number of inhabitants is about thirteen thousand, 
mostly retired or living on political preferment. 
There are very few manufactories, many newspapers, 
and almost no colored people. 

The Phoenix hotel was the one that was honored by 
our patronage. We had often heard of Adam's ale, 
but opposite the Phoenix was Adam's ale house ! It 
must have dispensed some beverage stronger than 
water ; for we saw men go in sober and come away 
reeling. Hidden away behind the billiard room was 
an open bar, even in our own hotel, and almost under 
the shadow of the capitol. Again we had talks about 
prohibition. Our parson was thoroughly aroused, 
and waxed eloquent, as he always does when he is in- 
dignant over some great wrong. His favorite theory 
is that rum should be declared contraband and given 
no quarter. "Banish it ; burn it, as you would in- 
fected rags which endanger the health and lives of the 
people," he said. "Suppose," said he, "liquor bills 
could not be collected by law, and that no insurance 
could be obtained on buildings used for its manufac- 
ture or sale. ' ' 

Even our lawyer, who always sees plausible argu- 
ments on both sides of a question, and has even been 
accused of sitting on the fence, agreed that to make 
rum contraband was the only effectual remedy for the 
evil. 

In resuming our drive we followed a street-car route 
six miles long. It led us through the great granite 
quarries and all the way to Penacook. 

A part of the distance the cars were propelled by 



140 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

dummy engines. These were worse than cable cars 
to scare horses. If the judge had been a less skillful 
horseman, or the harness proved less faithful to its 
attachments, we should have ended our drive then and 
there. 

Although granite is so abundant in New Hampshire, 
little is used in the construction of the buildings. 

Before the war, southerners used to say they sold 
only what they could not use ; while the northerners 
used only what they could not sell. There seems to 
be some foundation for the saying. 

The judge had still another criticism for the 
Yankees, although, in a general way, he greatly ad- 
mired them. He says he can never forgive them for 
starving their horses and working their women to 
death. 

At Penacook these things interested us : A hotel 
over one hundred years old, an iron bridge built in 
Canton, Ohio, and a funeral. The mourners looked 
very sorrowful as they emerged from a plain little 
house and walked behind the coffin of the dead to the 
graveyard near by. It is sad to part from those we 
love — sad enough at any time ; but more so, 

" When the days are sweetest, 
And the world is wholly fair." 

The afternoon was hot and dr>', and as we drove 
along Boscawen plain, the sand would have done credit 
to the Jersey coast. 

We stopped at a country inn to rest a while and take 
a sip of buttermilk and home-made beer. This halt 
was the immediate cause of a bad accident to I^ex- 
ington. 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 141 

When the judge took up the reins, suddenly turn- 
ing toward the hotel steps, he gave the whip a flourish, 
thinking the horses were much too tired to become 
excited by it. The sudden turn or the furious spring, 
gave to Lex's left hind leg a wrench which almost en- 
tirely disabled it. 

This was " a pretty how d'ye do ; " and we nearly 
nine miles from Franklin Falls where we were to stay 
all night. 

I^ex, poor fellow ! seemed really human in his mis- 
ery, and the courage with which he struggled on. 
We would gladly have carried him if we could. 

It was nearly sundown when we drove slowly in 
front of Youngs' hotel, a sadder, if not a wiser party. 
Here we were more than a hundred miles from our 
destination, and one horse going on three legs ! 

The horsemen at Franklin Falls pronounced Lex's 
trouble to be a curb. We knew what that meant, for 
he had oue in his right hind leg which disabled him 
for many weeks last spring. That curb was treated at 
the veterinary department of the University of Penn- 
sylvania, and cost us fifty dollars besides the loss of 
time. 

There was one consolation in the present predica- 
ment. Only blooded horses ever have a curb, and 
they never have it twice in the same leg. Some ad- 
vised us to ship Lex by rail, but the nearest station 
was three miles away. Some advised us to sell him, 
even if we could get no more than two or three hun- 
dred dollars for him. 

Poor, dear. Lex ! must we leave him to die among 
strangers ? 

A family council was held, in which we resolved 



142 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

not to leave him. We would "flourish alike or per- 
ish together." 

'' Why people don't die of inanition, or loss of ap- 
petite in certain hotels and boarding houses, and never 
know what is the matter with them, I don't see," 
said the lady doctor ; *' and how some people can eat 
the food they set before themselves and their unfor- 
tunate guests, passes understanding." 

Whenever we came to a place where we were treated 
to colored table cloths and napkins, we began to be 
suspicious at once. The color was used to conceal the 
great need of washing. The almost invariable accom- 
paniments were sticky dishes, swarms of flies, food 
badly flavored, burned, or otherwise spoiled in cooking. 

At Franklin Falls a fish, which had spent the night 
in the ice-chest on top of a watermelon, was served up 
for breakfast. Of course both fish and watermelon 
were ruined. 

The doctor pushed back her plate disgusted. ' ' The 
shabby, the shiftless, and the slovens are responsible 
for half the sickness in this world," she said. 

" And the bad habits of our immediate progenitors,' 
and our own transgressions of natural laws account for 
the rest of the miseries of mankind," responded the 
old-time parson with the new-time ideas. 

Franklin Falls is the most up and down place that 
ever was made. It is a queer agglomeration of mam- 
moth new buildings, factories, etc., almost along the 
river level ; and the little, old, white New England 
houses perched on the high hill : with as crowded and 
dirty alleys as if land was scarce as well as high. 

One of our party had inherited something of the 
.spirit of chivalry, and often went wandering about 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 143 

like a knight-errant in search of adventures and 
hoping to relieve some misery. This one of our party 
had found in this forlorn inn an old lady of eighty, who 
was suffering from a worse accident than our poor I^ex. 

She had arrived in a stage coach a few days before, 
hale and hearty for one to be at that interesting age. 
She was in the act of alighting from the coach, the 
landlord politely assisting her by the hand, when the 
horses suddenly moved, throwing the old lady's weight 
entirely upon the one limb. The bones of the fore- 
arm snapped off like pipe-stems. 

The old lady was chatty and cheerful. She said it 
might have been a great deal worse. ' ' Just suppose, ' ' 
said she, "my hip-bone might have been put out of 
joint or broken ! then I should have been a cripple the 
rest of my days." 

The room in which she lay contained a cracked 
mirror, black striped furniture, and a bed that looked 
anything but comfortable. Add to this she was far 
from home and among strangers. "It might have 
been worse," she reiterated, as we gave her our sym- 
pathy and what help we could. 

The old lady's philosophy and courage under the 
condition in which she found herself, made us a little 
ashamed of our blueness. 

One of the stablemen had recommended for Lex- 
ington a preparation called Vita-IyOtion. The next 
morning he seemed a little less lame. 

We determined to change the plan of our route some- 
what and instead of continuing over the Mammoth 
road, we went to Tilton three miles away, and thence 
kept near the line of railroad in case we should be 
obliged to give up driving. 



144 '^HE WKST-BROOK DRIVES. 

Tilton, named for its owner, was the most exquisite 
family village ever seen. There were grassy velvet- 
like lawns, ornamental shrubbery, flower beds and 
statuary of dolphins, mermaids and Venuses. 

Evidently manufacturing pays. The residence of 
E. C. Tilton is one of the most magnificent in the 
country. The fresco of one room alone cost eight 
thousand dollars. 

Lex proved himself a horse of wonderful stamina. 
The judge declared he was worth more with only three 
legs than an ordinary horse with four. 

That day proved one of the hottest of the season. 
A good part of the way elms, maples and butternut 
trees, gave us grateful shade ; but there were often long 
distances without a tree or shrub of any sort. If the 
supervisors of public roads had the good sense to let 
the nice young saplings, or sprouts grow, instead of 
cutting all down indiscriminately and burning them 
as useless brush, how soon we might journey through 
one continuous avenue of beautiful and protecting 
trees. 

All the houses had their door yards ornamented with 
flowers ; but they were mostly in tubs or on stone 
heaps. We wondered at this when they have all out- 
doors in which to grow, until we were informed that 
the rocks kept the flowers at a higher temperature, 
and the tubs were easily taken indoors on a frosty night. 
We found Sanford's Lake House a very attractive 
spot, gay with boating parties and city boarders. 

We passed along the western side of grand old Lake 
Winnipiseogee, and there the one of us who belongs 
to the old school of medicine, quoted the following 
caricature on Homoeopathy : 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 1 45 

"Take a little rum, 

(The less you take the better,) 
Put it in the lakes 

Of Wenner and of Wetter, 

*' Take a spoonful out, 

(Mind you don't get groggy !) 
Put it into Lake Winnipiseogee. 

" Stir the mixture well, 
Lest it prove inferior, 
Put a half drop into Lake Superior. 

" Every other day take a drop in water, 
You'll be better soon. 
Or at least you oughter. " 

It was more than an hour before noon when we 
reached Ivaconia, the country-seat of the town of the 
same name. 

At the Eagle hotel we rested during the heat of the 
day, and enjoyed a very good dinner. 

A lady who was waiting for a train on the Boston, 
Concord & Montreal railroad, entertained us by sing- 
ing, "The Flowers That Bloom in Spring," "Love 
Sometime Comes to All," and several other of the 
Mikado and Little Tycoon songs. She had a splendid 
physique and a lovely voice ; but was suffering from 
Bronchitis. 

Our lady doctor, though having a holy horror of 
being taken for one of those peripatetic physicians that 
go about from place to place, could not refrain from 
giving the stranger a prescription and some good ad- 
vice which the singer evidently needed and graciously 
took. 

Our tall horses, nearly seventeen hands high, were 
a great curiosity in this part of New Hampshire. 



146 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

"They have run their one breed of horses up and 
down these hills for so many generations, its no wonder 
their legs are short ! They have been driven in," 
said the judge. It amused him greatly to hear the 
Yankees speak of ' ' short posted ' ' horses, and ' ' low 
studded " houses. 

We had now reached the hilly country sure enough. 
Whenever we were on the ascent, we could trace our 
road both ahead and behind us for several miles in 
plain sight, looking high and hot in the glow of that 
afternoon. We drove very slowly and carefully, both 
on account of the heat and to favor Lex. We came 
to several fine stone watering troughs. At these we 
every time stopped and bathed Lex's limb either with 
the Vita-Lotion or with water. 

Some farmers were working out their road tax, and 
we blessed them for having raked off all the little 
stones and making the way so much smoother and 
easier for his tired feet. 

As for Oscar, his star was in the ascendent all the 
way to Bethlehem. He seemed to enjoy every mo- 
ment of the journey. He never seemed weary. The 
moment his harness was removed he would kick and 
play like a boy let out of school. 

This was our day in the lake country — Great Bay 
Lake on our left and Lake Meredith on our right, with 
lesser lakes all around us. 

Late in the afternoon we passed through a long 
woods, or forest, where black bears had been seen ; 
but only the gentle rustle of a pair of fat partridges, 
the crawling of one little snake, and the dead carcass 
of a larger one, disturbed our equilibrium. 



THE WESTBROOK DRIVES. 1 47 

Just as we emerged from tlie depths of these woods 
we came to a little graveyard o'n the top of a high 
rocky hill. The parson wondered if the believers in 
a literal resurrection had no fears that Gabriel would 
overlook some of these out-of-the-way places. 

Several times as the sun disappeared behind the 
mountains, we thought it was sunset ; but it was real- 
ly sunset when between seven and eight o'clock we 
came in sight of Ashland, in Grafton county, and drove 
up to the door of the Squam Lake hotel, near which 
a lawn party, gay with Chinese lanterns, was in pro- 
gress. 

We were now one hundred and twenty miles from 
Boston. All the way we had felt as if we were driv- 
ing over the map of New England. Places which 
until now had been a mere lesson in geography, a 
name, and to us an abstraction, stood boldly forth and 
stared us in the face as fixed facts. 

One of the greatest delights of a long drive is the 
feeling that all outdoors is waiting on your pleasure. 
The sensation is something like that of flying or sail- 
ing through a wide space. 

At Ashland, as elsewhere, the judge's first concern 
was for the comfort and welfare of the horses. What 
was his disgust to find there were no oats to be had. 
He found some relief in reiterating his firm conviction 
that the Yankees starve their horses, and work their 
wives to death. 

"Statistics show," said he, "that the average is 
two and a half (2>^) wives apiece. They kill them off" 
so fast. ' * 

The loveliness of that night, the moonlight on the 



i 



148 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

lake and mountaius was "a thing of beauty," the 
memory of which must be "a joy forever." 

Away up here in Ashland, we found a Hallet & 
Cumston piano, the very facsimile of the one given to 
your reporter as a birthday present in her girlhood. 

It seemed like unexpectedly meeting an old friend. 
Very soon the old tunes, "The Spanish Retreat," 
" The Agawam Quickstep," "Thou Hast Learned to 
Love Another," and " Do They Miss Me at Home ? " 
rang out on the clear night air. 




'A Neguo Woman Hoeing (John whii.k a Lazy Bov stood looking on.' 

1 See p:i!,-e 9 1 



I 



A SUMMER DRIVE. 
CHAPTER XII. 

THE Squam Lake hotel advertised itself as au at- 
tractive place for summer boarders. So it was, 
in some respects, but not in all ! It was full of little 
pitfalls, constantly surprising the unwary by a step to 
go up or down. 

" If I were a man," said the lady doctor, " and had 
a wife I wanted to get rid of, or make into a chronic 
invalid, I would build my house with just such 
vexations and wearing inequalities of surface. Forty 
times a day the woman who does the housework must 
undergo this extra muscular strain." 

The bath-room arrangements were comically remote 
from the rooms ; through the upper hall, down a long- 
flight of stairs, through lower hall, parlor, entry, 
dining-room, kitchen, another little entry, and up a 
flight of stairs into a loft over the woodshed ! Under 
these circumstances a Sponge bath in a wash bowl was 
preferable. Life seemed too short for the more 
serious and complete ablution. 

The principal business of Ashland is the manu- 
facture of gloves and stockings. The number of in- 
habitants is about two thousand, mostly Americans. 
It has absolutely no drinking saloons ; but the hotel 
sells a little on the sly. (U9) 



150 THK WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

Waiting on the piazza while our breakfast of fresh 
trout was being prepared, we had a little talk with the 
landlord on temperance. 

"Somehow," said he, "rum drinking is getting 
impopular. Business men will not employ men 
who drink even if they do so themselves. This place 
has no paupers," he added ; "only one man is worth 
one hundred thousand ; several are worth from ten to 
twenty thousand, and nearly everybody has one or 
two thousand dollars ahead." 

You would have thought to have heard him talk, 
that he was the champion prohibitionist of the town ; 
and yet the judge had found out that he was secretly 
violating the law. Injustice to the judge, it should 
be stated that he had no intention of playing the 
spy ; but it happened in this way : 

The reader will remember that the Russia leather 
flask, dedicated to purely medicinal purposes, was 
carefully placed in the bottom of the traveling bag. 
The bag was strapped on the rack, or what we called 
the annex behind the carriage. Some superfluous 
things belonging to the harness had been thought- 
lessly laid on the top of the bag and acted as a sort 
of hammer as the the carriage jolted along wherever 
the road was at all rough. The cousysquence was 
that the glass bottle was smashed into a thousand 
pieces. 

When at the close of that hot day we reached Ash- 
land, the judge handed in the satchel with the re- 
mark that if he ever needed a little medicine it was 
then and there ; but alas for human hopes I The 
moment the bag was opened a sorry spectacle pre- 
sented itself. 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. I51 

The smell of the spilled spirit told of its uutimely 
departure ; but the worst of it all was the stains from 
that false Russia leather. The color had deserted the 
leather and was decorating our night robes and extra 
linen in a most fantastic way. Besides this the bits 
of broken glass were thoroughly mixed with the con- 
tents of that bag. 

With disappointed and somewhat disconsolate face 
the judge was taking the remnants of that wrecked 
bottle out to throw over the back fence when he met 
the proprietor. The sympathy of the latter was at 
once enlisted, and he did all in his power to soothe 
the disappointment and to remedy the accident. 

The morning sun was under a cloud and cooler 
breezes were softly blowing, when we started for 
Plymouth, six miles away. The Pemigewasset House, 
named for the river which flows through this place, 
is the great attraction to summer travelers. 

The old town hall where Daniel Webster made his 
maiden speech, and tried his first case, afterward be- 
came a wheelwright shop. Senator Blair has re- 
cently bought the building and fitted it up for a public 
library. 

Everywhere throughout New Hampshire we heard 
stories of the great statesman. Daniel had a brother 
Ezekiel, who was quite unlike him, but when he grew 
up became a good honest lawyer. 

One time when they were young, their father gave 
them on a Training day, ten dollars apiece. At night 
he inquired : 

"Daniel, what have you done with your money ? " 

''Spent it, father." 

** Ezekiel, what have you done with yours ? " 



152 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

"Gave ten cents for ginger bread, and lent nine 
dollars and ninety cents to brother Daniel." 

On another occasion the father returning from an 
absence asked : 

" Ezekiel, what have you been doing to-day?" 

"Nothing, father." 

" Daniel, what have you been doing? " 

"Helping Ezekiel, father," said Daniel with a sly 
twinkle in his eye. 

" The real reason," said the parson, " why Frank- 
lin Pierce, a third-rate lawyer in Concord, was made 
President of these United States, and Daniel Webster 
was never even nominated, was because one was 
known to possess moral principle, and the other was 
known to lack it. It was observed of Van Buren that 
he was a northern man with southern principles ; and 
the same was true of Daniel Webster. His political 
principles were positively southern. 

" Daniel Webster was a man of mighty brain," said 
the judge. " While he lived he was a power in the 
land." 

The parson assented to this, but added, ' ' with the 
same powers we serve or curse our kind." 

Inquiring the way from Plymouth to West Camp- 
ton we were told " uot to turn the bridge over the 
river, but turn the road up the stream." 

We told the judge this must be another Pennsyl- 
vania Dutchman strayed into the northern clime. 
When asked the way to a certain place the Dutchman 
said, " the first house you come to is my son's barn 
shingled rnit rye straw and when you get there, my 
poy can tell you the way so petter as I can." 

Campton seemed to be a difficult name for us to 



I 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. I53 

remember. We could only do it by • associating it 
with the negro song, "The Campton races are five 
miles long." 

Evidently there had been no rain for weeks along 
the valley of the Pemigewasset. The wind, what 
little there was of it, came from the southeast and as 
our course lay directly northwest, it blew squarely on 
our back and carried the dust with us. 

The lady doctor regarded with great vexation the 
rapidly accumulating layers of dirt over her black 
silk traveling dress, and hoped she might never again 
be so nearly buried alive. 

The summer city boarder has been a mission- 
ary or herald of civilization. Everywhere in and 
around farm-houses we saw evidences of the taste and 
care for comfort which their coming had inspired. 
There were pretty rustic arbors, green lawns, shady 
walks, inviting nooks, and seats and swings. Ham- 
mocks were no longer hung in the glaring sun, but 
were covered by comfortable canopies. We saw some 
patent arrangements of these things which would be 
considered treasures and adornments anywhere. 

A little meeting house covered with some kind of 
a red wash, reminded our parson of a colored preacher 
who gave out a notice of a meeting of trustees " to 
take into consideration what color dis yer meeting 
house shall be white- washed." 

Pelican cottage with an inscription giving the date 
of its erection as 1813, attracted our attention. 

The parson quoted from the I02d psalm : "I am 
like a pelican of the wilderness ;" "Mine enemies 
reproach me all the day ; " "I have eaten ashes like 
bread. ' ' 



154 THE WEvST-BROOK DRIVES. 

For ashes we suggested the substitution of the word 
dust to make the scripture applicable to our case that 
day. 

When we reached West Campton at half past eleven 
o'clock A. M. we had driven only fifteen miles ; but 
as Sanborn House looked so inviting, and both the 
horses and ourselves were tired, we concluded to stop 
till the following day if we could obtain accommoda- 
tions. 

About one hundred people were visible on the 
piazzas and grounds. The probability of getting 
quarters seemed distressingly doubtful. The guests 
there were the most obliging set we ever met. One 
gentleman ran after the host to inform him of the 
unexpected arrival. Another called the hostler ; 
while some of the ladies made room for us in the 
coolest spot on the veranda. 

Very fortunately for us a party had left that morn- 
ing ; and one that had been waiting at a cottage out- 
side, generously offered to wait one day more in order 
that we might be entertained. On door-mat and 
wall were the cheerful words, '* Welcome to Camp- 
ton." 

At the old-fashioned hour of twelve the dinner was 
served. It was a splendid dinner, and such splendid 
appetites as we had ! Nowhere did we ever see quite 
such perfect pies. Even a dyspeptic might enjoy 
these with impunity. 

The little company at Sanborn's comprised many 
artists and other cultured and intelligent persons. 
They made us feel at home at once. We fraternized 
directly. 

There was one lady from New Orleans whom we 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. I55 

cannot soon forget. Her history was a complete 
romance. She was orphaned in childhood, educated 
in a convent, married at sixteen to her guardian, a 
widow with three children at twenty-three ; now 
again a wife and mother ; this time a happy one. 
Her descriptions of southern life, her wonderful 
power of imitating negro characters, astonished and 
delighted us. 

For more than an hour that evening sitting out on 
the piazza in the lovely light of the full moon, with 
an occasional flash of lightning from a passing cloud, 
in turn about the southern lady and the judge, 
amused the whole crowd with their delightful 
stories. 

Then another one of our party was called upon for 
recitations. Several good conundrums followed. 

Some one asked if we knew the diflference between 
a Boston owl and an ordinary owl ? 

The ordinary owl says " te whit te who." 

The Boston owl says " te whit te whom," properly 
using the objective case. 

Ques. How is a chemist unlike an alchemist ? 

Ans. The chemist is an analyzer (Ann Eliza) the 
alchemist is a charlatan (Charlotte Ann.) 

After many a hearty laugh, and with many good 
wishes we said adieu to our newly made friends and 
retired to our rooms somewhat early, as we were to 
resume our drive at six o'clock next morning. The 
last sound we heard that night was a banjo serenade 
and a song in our corridor, "Good night, Sallie 
White." 

Between Sanborn's house and the mountain hotels 
within a radius of fifty miles there was telephonic 



156 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

communication, so we were enabled to send word of 
our coming and engage quarters in advance. 

What a marvel to be able to converse in audible 
tones with a person miles and miles away, across 
streams and over mountains ! 

I think it was in this vicinity that the countryman 
tried to telephone for the first time. He was some 
distance from home and thought to have a little talk 
with his wife Sally. Just then it happened that 
lightning struck the machine and knocked him heels 
over head. Picking himself up and rubbing his 
ears, he exclaimed : " That is just like Sally every 
time ! It is a word and blow with her and generally 
the blow comes first." 

The stablemen at West Campton had taken a great 
interest in Lex's case. A generous fee from the 
judge had undoubtedly stimulated their exeitions. 
The consequence was they had done their work so 
well that when they took oflf the bandage in the 
morning his leg looked as if a strip of the hide had 
been peeled ofif. The flesh seemed perfectly bare. 
This was indeed heroic treatment but it cured him ! 
There was no more limping after that. When after 
a few days the wound made by the vitae lotion healed, 
the horse was entirely well. In a week or two more 
the hair grew and covered up every trace of the 
trouble. 

We left Sanborn's house after a very early break- 
fast. The lightning of the previous night had cooled 
the air considerably, but the road was still dry and 
sandy. 

How gratefully travelers remember the shady 
places made so either by the design of man or the 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. I57 

bounty of nature left to her own devices. Along 
such places we always drove slowly to enjoy the com- 
fort and beauty. 

For a long distance our way lay near the railway 
track and many times we were obliged to cross and 
re-cross it, greatly to the disturbance of the doctor's 
nerves. 

The judge tried to comfort her, saying it was only 
a single track and a one-horse concern anyhow. 

The doctor maintained that it would be just as 
disastrous to be run over by one car and a locomotive 
as by a dozen. 

"Speaking of railroads," said the parson, "how 
easy it would be to prevent a great proportion of the 
accidents by never allowing them to cross the road 
or street on the level. ' ' 

" And how easy it would be while they were about 
it," said the doctor, " to have the matter just right 
by an enactment that the railroads should always lay 
four tracks instead of one or two ; and that the freight 
trains should never go on the passenger tracks." 

On the way to Woodstock two wonders constantly 
presented themselves. One was the shabbiness of 
some places, and the other the exquisite neatness and 
thriftiness of some others. 

The judge said when a Yankee undertook to be 
shiftless he beat all creation, because it was his nature 
to excel in whatever he undertook to do. 



A SUMMER DRIVE. 
CHAPTER XIII. 

ONE of our party would not admit that a native 
New Englander could be shiftless under any 
circumstances. And it is a fact, whenever we had a 
chance to investigate, we found that the lazy and un- 
thrifty had a foreign origin of some kind. 

We passed one very old-fashioned place which 
seemed to have taken no note of the progress of man- 
kind. A spinning wheel stood on the porch ; a roll 
of wool lay beside it ; and an old woman walked back 
and forth making the yarn just as our grandmothers 
did an age ago. 

The wind had veered around to the northwest. 
Clouds were forming on the mountains, and lights and 
shadows were chasing each other. Gradually a haze 
gathered like a piece of gauze thrown over a picture. 

We were to pass through Franconia Notch. As we 
looked ahead we saw mountain rising above moun- 
tain with meadows between. 

The signs of a storm were increasing when your re- 
porter modestly suggested that we should go on faster ; 
but the judge declined to do so, saying, "good horse- 
manship requires that you make your time on the 
smooth road, and spare the horses on the hills and 
rough places." (158) 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. I59 

The road was certainly anything but smooth and 
level just there. 

** What a splendid bridge !" exclaimed the parson, 
just as we had crossed a frail structure which trembled 
under our weight, and threatened to plunge us down 
the precipice that yawned below. 

"Why do you call it that?" asked the doctor, pale 
with fright. 

" Do you not know the proverb, ' Speak well of the 
bridge that carries you safely over? ' " he replied. 

At Woodstock we suddenly found wet, even muddy 
roads. Forming a distinct line, the dry dust ended 
and the mud began. Rain had been pouring all night 
they told us. A shower was just then falling which 
made it necessary to drop the curtains and don our 
waterproofs. 

At Woodstock, a tabernacle constructed by stretch- 
ing canvas over an iron frame, afforded a convenient 
place of worship to the summer boarders. It was a re- 
markably complete arrangement, with a roof and doors 
and windows. 

In another and poorer part of the town, near a little 
wooden church, was a graveyard, on the stones of 
which we read, as we slowly passed, the names of 
several dead ministers. Our parson grimly remarked, 
"I should think preachers would starve to death in 
such a poverty stricken place." 

"It is a curious fact," said the judge, "that in a 
region where, from the presence of weasels or other 
vermin, it is difficult to grow plenty of chickens, there 
the poor people are almost sure to be deprived of the 
consolations of the gospel. Somehow preachers object 
to going where there are no chickens ; or if they do 



l6o THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

go, they are almost sure to droop and die as these have 
done." 

As we went on the mountains which had seemed 
to shut us in like a wall, and to terminate our road at 
their base, these mountains opened as it were, diago- 
nally, and graciously allowed us to pass through, while 
they respectfully stood gazing down at us on either 
hand. 

At half past eleven o'clock on the 12th of August, 
we arrived at the Flume House. We were chilly and 
tired. We warmed ourselves at the open fire ; then at 
an altitude of 1,431 feet, we took a delightful and re- 
freshing nap. 

"Twelve and two shows what the weather will 
do." 

When we awoke the clouds had almost disappeared. 
The heights which had looked blue or gray in the 
storm, now in the flood of golden sunshine, were lovely 
in a living green. 

Numbers of people in wagons and carriages of every 
description, and on the tops of tally-ho or stage-coach, 
were continually arriving or departing. The house 
had a hundred or more extra guests to dinner that day ; 
yet there was an elegant abundance for all. 

The waiters, as we afterwards learned, were school 
teachers acting in this capacity during vacation. They 
were in a uniform of white — dress, cap and apron. 
They were very quick and attentive. The one es- 
pecially assigned to us was tall, graceful, and particu- 
larly dignified. 

When we were going away the judge whispered to 
the doctor, "Shall we give her some money ?" "Do 
as you think best," the doctor quietly answered ; " but 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. l6l 

I should as soon think of offering a fee to Queen 
Victoria." 

We thought it was only daylight ; the stars were 
still visible in the sky Friday morning, when we 
looked out and saw the sun just coming up over the 
top of Mount Liberty. 

This mountain, by the way, represents the profile of 
George Washington lying in state. The likeness is 
really very striking. 

This Flume House possesses a little colored fac- 
totum, Remus, whether named for one of the twins 
that founded Rome, or for Uncle Remus of the 
"Bre'er Rabbi tt " stories, we do not know. There 
he was, black but comely, and a character. 

He was the one to take toll at the gate-way leading 
to that wonderful natural curiosity, the Flume. This 
toll-gate was the first we had seen in all the journey. 
The roads had been not only remarkably good but free 
in all New Hampshire ; and so far as we went, in 
Massachusetts also. 

Passing through the gate going southeasterly down 
a very steep hill about three-fourths of a mile long, we 
came to the chalet, a tourist's rest, and a place of sale 
for alpen-stocks, birch beer and souvenirs. 

In descending this long steep hill the mountain 
wagons put on the brakes, ordinary carriages have their 
wheels locked or tied, and so slide down. We pre- 
ferred to walk. 

Just beyond the chalet we step upon a smoothly 
polished rock, 699 feet long and very broad. Over 
this rocky floor flows a thin sheet of water called the 
cascade. The irregularities of the surface afford dry 
stepping places over which you pass to the rustic 



l62 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

bridges, board walks, and stairs up which you climb 
through the famous Flume. 

Imagine two granite ledges from 69 to 79 feet high, 
forming two perpendicular parallel walls about ten or 
twenty feet apart, and extending, as a trench, about 
799 feet. 

Through this trench the water comes down, some- 
times as a merry little brook, but more frequently in 
dashing waterfalls and in seething torrents. 

This innocent little mountain brook has eaten its 
way through all this 700 feet in length and 70 in 
height ; eaten its way through the solid granite ! 

A man in the crowd of visitors of that Friday, a 
stranger, who looked like a minister, left his own 
party and attached himself to ours. 

*' How long," said he to the parson, "how long do 
you suppose this chasm has been forming?" 

Our parson gave us a little wink as he answered : 

** It could not be more than six thousand years, you 
know ? ' ' 

The face wore an anxious look, as he again asked : 
*' At what rate is it forming now ? " 

*'Well, the geologists say," said our parson, who 
always likes to have good authority for his heresies, 
'*at a rate which would count into the millions of 
years for the whole job already done." 

"That is what puzzles me," said the minister," 
** why the work should move on so slowly now and so 
rapidly formerly. Could there have been any mis- 
take in Moses' chronology ? " 

Afterwards, in recalling the conversation, our par- 
son with the new time ideas, quoted Renan as saying, 

*' The great problem of the present age is to pre- 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 163 

serve the religious spirit, whilst getting nd of the 
superstitions and absurdities, alike opposed to science 
and to common sense, that now deform religion." 

** There is in these latter times," said the judge, '*a 
spirit of investigation, or as some prefer to call it, a 
want of veneration abroad, which pulls to pieces the 
idols of the past ; and woe to the idols if they are found 
to be only veneered instead of made of solid truth." 

Between the narrow walls in the upper part of the 
Flume there was formerly a huge boulder caught and 
held suspended probably for centuries; but in the 
great slide of 1883 this, together with an immense 
amount of debris, was washed down. The debris 
spread through the forest, covering acres below the 
gorge. 

The boulder was left behind in the flood and rests 
near the cascade, where it is fenced, not to keep it in, 
but to keep relic hunters out. 

The slide of three years ago left a large mark on 
Flume mountain, which at the distance of the Flume 
House veranda, gives the outline of a woman and child 
in the pose of Raphael's Madonna. 

A party of sportsmen, who had climbed the moun- 
tain a day or two before our visit, tied an old napkin 
to a limb of a dead tree. It is hardly likely they 
guessed the effect they were producing. At the hotel 
it is seen as a white pearl resting on the brow of the 
Madonna. 

To reach the other great natural curiosity, the pool, 
we pass through damp woods that smell of fern and 
toadstools, and over slippery fallen logs, for a half mile 
or more. The pool is a freak of the Pemigewasset river. 
It has made a deep excavation in the granite rock that 



164 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

looks as if it might have been hewn by human 
hands. 

An odd old man, a sort of aquatic Diogenes, stays 
there, and takes visitors around in an ark-like boat 
which he propels about the dark water with one paddle 
and a rope. By imposing a tribute on all who com 
into his net he has accumulated about twelve thousand 
dollars. 

On the evening of Friday, ' ' Clouds lay cradled neaf 
the setting sun," and in spite of the gorgeous coloring 
"We dismally thought of the morrow." 

That night our parson was sick. A hearty dinner 
followed by a big supper, (parsons are proverbially 
foud of good living) and the big supper followed by 
copious draughts of ice water at bedtime, produced the 
inevitable indigestion, flatulence, distention, heart- 
burn, etc. After some hours of restless tossing and 
groanings, not loud but deep, the doctor, tired and 
sleepy, was called up at midnight. In that kind of 
colic hot water was needed. There was none to be 
had. How the doctor wished for the little alcohol 
lamp discarded at Boston as "the feather that might 
break the camel's back." The outraged stomach re- 
jected all medicines. Something must be done, but 
what? As a last resort chloroform was applied ex- 
ternally. This gave relief, but produced a blister 
which left its mark for days. 

When the parson was better, he told the story of a 
man in a similar case to whom the doctor had said : 

"Deacon, I hope you are not afraid to die." 

" No," replied the deacon, "but I'm ashamed to face 
my maker after such imprudence." 

' ' Knickerbockers ought to be an indictable offense, ' ' 



THE WEST- BROOK DRIVES. 165 

said a young lady, disappointed that her brothers could 
not accompany her in the dance on account of their 
grotesque appearance. Their striped caps made them 
look like escaped convicts, and their checked blouses 
and knee breeches made them look like harlequins. 

This style of masculine dress seems designed to 
complete the work of separating the sexes in their 
amusements. That work was long ago begun by 
billiards, rum and tobacco. 



A SUMMER DRIVE. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

THE raoming of Saturday, August the 14th, was 
dark with heavy clouds. It was still very early 
when the rain began to pour. 

"Rain before seven, it will clear before eleven," 
quoted the judge, in his usual hopeful mood. 

Sure enough, soon the sun looked softly out from 
between the clouds, and, although the rain was still 
falling, it did not seem half so wet while the sun was 
shining. However, the clouds closed in again and it 
was as dismal as it well could be when the horses 
were harnessed and we started, soon after eight o'clock, 
for Bethlehem, sixteen miles away. 

The first third of the way reminded us of the Wis- 
sahicon drive. The road is smooth and hard and 
through a forest with water on one hand. Near the 
roadside at our left we met another caprice of the 
Pemigewasset. This time it is a basin, as they call 
the huge granite bowl fifteen feet deep. A white 
cascade falling from above makes a miniature green- 
hued maelstrom below. 

Of the " Old Man of the Mountain " we had heard 
from childhood, with little idea of what it was like. 
When we came in its vicinity and looked up we did 
not need to be told, "That is it." "Oh see! see 
the face!" we exclaimed all together. (166) 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 167 

The profile is no delusion. The forehead, as the 
guide-book observes, is full where phrenologists 
locate the reasoning faculties, and heavily projecting 
in the region of comparison and observation. The 
nose is finely cut and straight ; the thin lips are 
parted, as if about to speak. The chin is prominent 
and curved. The wisdom of ages seems stamped 
upon the brow. 

This marvelous effect is produced by three ledges 
of rock which project from the side of Mount Cannon 
twelve hundred feet from its base. These ledges 
are about forty feet high. One of the three forms 
the forehead, another the nose and upper lip, while the 
third completes the vast human profile. 

The trees in this vicinity are virgin forest ; yet 
strangely enough you rarely see one over a hundred 
years old. A gentleman from Boston, who professed 
to have made a study of the subject, told us as another 
curious fact, that when one of these trees fall, a dif- 
ferent kind of tree springs up in its place. Thus 
where an oak is growing to-day a maple or a beech 
tree grew a century or so ago. 

The Profile House is in the wildest part of the 
Franconia Notch. Between Mount Cannon and Eagle 
Cliff there is just room enough for the house and its 
outbuildings. 

" Franconia Notch and Crawford Notch are both 
great manufacturing places," remarked the doctor, 
who had recently been reviewing physical geography. 

"Your remark surprises me," said the judge, *'I 
did not suppose there was a factory of any kind in 
either of these places." 

"Oh, yes there is," replied the doctor. "There 



l68 THK WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

are immense cloud and fog factories. They condense 
the moisture and make up the storms for a large part 
of New England." Then she added, ''Although 
these regions are the birth-places of the mists, there 
is no undue moisture or dampness in the atmosphere. 
'Taking cold,' as it is called, is almost a thing un- 
known in this vicinity." 

The lake near the Profile House and the paths 
about it are charming. The soil is made up of disin- 
tegrated granite, and so the walks are never muddy. 
This is fortunate ; for April weather lasts all summer 
here. Only tickle these hills with a cloud and a dasli 
of rollicking rain results. 

As we emerged from the thick woods a grand scene 
burst upon our sight. As the clouds became lighter 
and more fleecy their effect on the distant mountains 
was that of smoke from fires. You could imagine 
that you were seeing a dozen Mount Vesuvii at once. 
On some of the tops the storm still raged ; on some it 
was a clear and sunshiny day ; while on some others 
still, the light and shadows were chasing each other 
as if in play. 

We had been enjoying clear weather for some time 
when suddenly we rode into the storm again. The 
rain fell in bucketsful. We could hardly see the 
horses' heads or the way to drive. We were obliged 
to stop, to stand still, and take it as it came. For- 
tunately the carriage curtains were still closed, and it 
was only the work of an instant to draw up the 
leather apron, or we should have been perfectly 
drenched. 

This proved to be a clear-up shower. The wind 
arose, and the clouds gathered themselves up and 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 1 6.9 

rolled out of sight. In bright noonday sunshine we 
came upon Bethlehem. Like Mount Zion it is beau- 
tiful for situation, the joy of New Hampshire, the 
Mecca of hay-fever patients in August. 

The altitude is only nine feet greater than that of 
the Flume House ; but you feel as if you were let 
out into a large place, and as if you had reached the 
highest level that is attainable. You are in the 
center ; and can look out upon all the world around 
you. It is not a very big world. The distant 
mountains form a circle and meet the descending 
horizon. 

The town of Littleton, the largest business place 
in the northern part of the state, is three miles from 
Bethlehem. It lies towards the west, spreads out in 
plain sight, and gives a center and something of 
emphasis to the landscape in that direction. 

Mount Washington, the monarch of these moun- 
tains, looms up in the east, and is the cynosure of all 
eyes. 

Illustrating the difference between carriage and 
railroad travel, the judge told of the old woman who 
had her first ride in the cars. 

"What did I see when I rid in that steam wagon ? 
I didn't see nothing but a hay-stack and that was 
going ' tother way ! ' " 

We felt that we had seen about all there was to 
see ; and that we knew more of New Haii^pshire now 
than the natives do themselves. 

At Bethlehem we were to remain for four or five 
weeks during the hay-fever time. We found, as the 
good do when they go to Heaven, a place prepared 
for us, and were very pleasantly received. 



170 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

One who had shared our experience has remarked, 

"There is nothing which has yet been contrived by 

men, by which so much happiness is produced as by 

a good tavern." 

" Who'er has traveled life's dull round, 
Where'er his stages may have been. 
May sigh to think he still has found, 
His warmest welcome at an inn." 

From Bethlehem we drove, or rode, in diflferent 
directions from ten to twenty miles each day. Some- 
times we chose the old coaching roads, the highway 
of travel, where we met numerous other parties "on 
pleasure bent ;" but more frequently we sought the 
by-ways, and sometimes followed out roads that 
came to an untimely end. 

A favorite drive of ours was along the Ammonoosuc. 
A tangle of green vines and bushes separated the road 
and river ; but through the openings we caught 
bright glimpses, and always we heard the music of 
its murmur. 

Echo farm is one of the most attractive drives. It 
is is also a marvel in its way. A young man at the 
tower with a single bugle call, or a breath through 
his winding horn, would ' ' Set the wild echoes flying. ' ' 
The responses which came back through the distant 
forest were so real that the doctor could hardly be- 
lieve that some human beings were not concealed 
there ready to answer back. 

The tones from the brass instruments, or those 
from the vocal chords, were equally imitated. 

Our saddles had been sent to Bethlehem by ex- 
press, and often we rode on horseback. Both horses 
were well trained for this purpose ; but Oscar was 
the one who understood all the fancy steps and 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 17 1 

antics. A single hint from the whip or spur, would 
make him dance, or prance, walk Spanish, or march 
with stately tread, keeping perfect time to invisible 
music. He evidently enjoyed the admiration which 
he excited. Often when we were passing a hotel, 
particularly if the piazza happened to be full of 
people, he would not wait for any suggestions from 
us ; and when, as frequently occurred, they applauded, 
he was so proud he could scarcely contain himself. 

At such times Lex, with the judge on his back, 
(who, by the way, rides like the fabled Centaur, as 
if he were a part of the horse), would keep steadily 
at his work whether of trot or canter, looking mean- 
while as if he despised such frivolous actions. 

The lady doctor rode Oscar. The judge said they 
evidently formed a mutual admiration society, and 
were proud of each other. 

The judge's abundant gray hair rather gave him 
away as to age ; but as regarded the lady doctor, the 
silver threads did not show much. 

The slender figure, the closely fitting habit, and 
the jaunty riding cap, quite concealed her matronly 
maturity, and led to a funny mistake on the part of 
the strangers. 

One day our reporter was waiting in the parlor of 
the Sinclair House, when an equestrian party passed 
in sight from the windows, and one lady remarked to 
another in praise of the riding. 

The answer was, *' O, that is nothing ! You ought 
to see the General and his daughter ride." She then 
proceeded to describe our party, and Lex and Oscar's 
pranks. She said there were several reports : One 
was that the gray-haired gentleman was a General in 



17a THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

the army, and that the horse had been trained there. 
At all events the horse now belonged to the daughter, 
and no one else was allowed to ride him. 

On the night of the 23rd of August there was a very 
remarkable aurora-borealis. It consisted of a double 
arch from east to west in which all the colors of the 
prism appeared. Great clouds lay both to the north 
and south of these arches, and from underneath the 
clouds streamed forth the peculiar northern lights. 
Everybody predicted a change of weather; but the 
temperature of May continued, as it usually does in 
that region, through all the month of August. 

One of the attractive places in Bethlehem is the 
Indian encampment on Strawberry hill. The special 
ware exhibited for sale is baskets of every variety and 
color. Often the baskets are made fragrant with the 
sweet grass which these people know where to find 
and how to prepare. 

The Indian will never make a good citizen till he 
is made over entirely. One of our party thought the 
old-fashioned religious conversion might do something 
for him. 

The male Indian is naturally lazy. Here is a 
typical one at the encampment. He wears a shiny 
black coat, a shabby and battered high hat, a paper 
collar. He smokes and cultivates all the manly vices 
of civilization. True to his savage instincts, he still 
makes a slave of his squaw. She tends the pappoose, 
does the tent work, and makes the baskets ; while he, 
with idle fingers, sits tilted back in an easy position, 
and does not condescend to move out of his chair un- 
til we show an unmistakable determination to buy 
something. 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 1 73 

In our, as we may say, enforced stay at Bethlehem, 
we were so fortunate as to meet many congenial 
spirits. We became almost like the members of one 
family. The names of some are household words to 
us now, and are mentioned in our prayers with those 
of our own brothers and sisters. Of course now and 
then a discordant element appeared among us ; but 
all was for the most part harmony, and kindly 
feeling one towards another. Many in our little 
company of fifty or less, at the Centennial House, 
felt obliged to stay indoors after night-fall ; and so 
we made mutual efforts to be agreeable and to enter- 
tain each other. Our parson did not much relish 
games of any kind except blindman's buff; and the 
judge was getting too stout for that ; so the more in- 
tellectual pastime of music, reading, recitations and 
story telling became popular. We even had one 
regular lecture from the judge. He called it "A talk 
on the origin of a few familiar things." One Sun- 
day night our parson with " the new time ideas " ac- 
tually preached us a sermon on the text, "Do good 
to all men as ye have opportunity." This he did in 
such a way as made a deep impression on all. A lit- 
tle boy of ten years was one of the most attentive 
listeners. At the close of the sermon this little boy's 
mother was requested to sing a hymn. She could do 
it very nicely ; but did not feel just in the mood to do 
it then. I shall never forget the earnest manner of 
the little fellow, as with a look of astonishment he 
turned to his mother and said, "Why mamma ! Has 
not the parson just told us how we ought to do good 
whenever we have a chance.** This appeal was 
irresistible. 



174 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

We had at least one poet among us, and he was in 
love with New England. The following are some 
of the beautiful lines in which he addressed her : 

NEW ENGLAND. 



New England ! Oh, New England ! 

There is quiet in thy hills ; 
New England ! Oh, New England ! 

There is music in thy rills ; 
In the verdure of the valleys. 

In the rippling of the streams. 
There is rest for weary pilgrims 

And a home for happy dreams. 

New England ! Oh, New England ! 

There is storm among thy hills ; 
New England ! Oh. New England ! 

There are torrents in thy rills ; 
And a voice of warning surges 

From thy mountains to the sea, 
But its echo ever rises 

In a single murmur — Free ! 

New England ! Oh, New England ! 

From thy firm and rock-bound shore, 
New England ! Oh, New England ! 

Comes a loud and solemn roar ; 
'Tis the echo of the ocean 

To the rock upon thy coast, 
Like the bugle call of Freedom, 

As he marshals up his host. 

New England ! Oh, New England, 

From thy cradle of the land, 
New England ! Oh, New England ! 

From thy strong and pilgrim band, 
There are freemen calling freemen, 

And the sound of Freedom's blast 
Is the signal for his soldiers 

When the skies are overcast. 

(Our pcet modestly signed only his initials.)— C. S. W. 




••There was one Oi'ilent Kstaklishmknt in thk Vii.i.AtjK. It Be- 
longed TO THE MAN WHO MADE THE BeEI: AND DOCTORED THE WHISKEY." 



[See page 14] 



IS MARRIAGE A FAILURE ? 
CHAPTER XV. 

(About this time the question "Is Marriage a Faihtre?" was 
agitating the literary world. Our lady doctor expressed herself so 
decidedly upon the subject that she was requested to write a little 
essay and furnish entertainment for a stormy evening. 

This she consented to do ; and so one night to a parlor audience, 
presented the following paper which seemed to be heartily 
appreciated. ) 

ANSWER. No ! Wedlock may be a failure ; but 
marriage never. 

What is marriage ? 

Before we are prepared to discitss the question of its 
failure, we must have a closer conception as to what 
constitutes marriage. 

The truly ideal marriage is a union of man and 
woman, so perfect, they may be truly said to be "one 
flesh, ' ' and one mind. 

In the beautiful allegory of Eve in Eden, the twain 
being one flesh is clearly taught. In the progress of 
the race, in the evolution of ideas, we have come to 
include the one mind also. 

The ideal wife of to-day is not only a lovely Eve of 
flesh and blood, but she is beside that, a magnificent 
Minerva springing full fledged from the brain of her 
Jupiter, and predestined to set the world astir, and lift 
it to a higher plane, by her John Wards and Robert 
Elsmeres. (175) 



176 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

Man is no longer sole prince of Intellect, but doth 
share his realm of Reason with his companion, woman. 
Henceforth, side by side, step by step, the ideal couple 
walk together. 

" Bearing each the other's crosses, 
Wearing each the other's crown." 

I think it was Theodore Parker who compared mar- 
riage to a sum in fractions. Some, he said, were only 
an eighth, or a quarter married, while many others 
were half married, and a few were wholly so. 

These last are like "mixed streams of meeting 
rivers, whose blended waters are no more distinguished, 
but roll into the sea one common flood." 

Marriage is a law of nature. We meet its prototype 
even in the simplest forms of creation. Its object is 
the perpetuation of the species, and ultimate happi- 
ness of the race. 

In our present state of existence food is neccessary 
to our existence, and a beneficent Providence has or- 
dained that appetite shall wait upon necessity, and 
give us pleasure in our feeding ; so marriage is for a 
pure and holy purpose ; and love is the desire which 
leads to it. 

Thus it has been said, " Love makes the world go 
round." 

There are numberless persons to-day who will con- 
fess, *' I am far happier married ; not for all the 
wealth of the Orient would I be unmarried." And 
as to the multiplication — the replenishing the earth — 
how else should we be here to-night ? 

Whatever unborn generations may say, we must de- 
clare the object has been accomplished. It is a 
success. 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. IJJ 

Many make the mistake of confounding wedlock 
with marriage. Now wedlock is the legal union of 
two persons who publicly pledge themselves for vari- 
ous reasons, to remain in more or less willing com- 
munity and combination. 

In mere wedlock, I grant you, although it may be- 
come a heaven, there is usually a locally constructed 
hell. 

I have seen pairs tied together at which I felt like 
exclaiming, *' O horror ! horror ! ! After this alliance, 
let tigers match with hinds, and wolves with sheep ; 
and every creature couple with its foe." 

How many such have, when too late, cried out in 
bitterness of soul. 

" O for a curse upon the cunning priest, 
Who conjured us together in a yoke that galls us so ! " 

Many a man leads to the hymeneal altar the woman 
who is to be his torment and his ruin. Many a 
woman goes to the altar, like the lamb to the slaughter, 
with the man, who is to be, to all intents and purposes, 
her murderer ! 

I who speak to you, have stood by and seen and 
heard, the death blows dealt ; and I was powerless to 
prevent. 

I know of many cases where the husband has been 
the direct cause of the wife's death. Yet the law 
could take no hold on him. There are wounds which 
leave no external mark ; yet a physician may discover 
them. 

Words, and even looks, can stab as fatally as 
knives. 

I have seen those who "abroad were too kind, while 



178 THK WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

at home ' twas steadfast hate, and one eternal tempest 
of debate.'* 

Who among you has not known several families 
where the master was an object of terror? where mirth 
was silenced, and all cheerfulness vanished, and callers 
suddenly remembered a previous engagement, when 
the gentleman of the house appeared ? 

Some men think variety the spice of life, and hav- 
ing by winning wiles secured a wife, seek then "fresh 
fields and pastures new" ; but know young man, that 

" In the calm of truth-tied love there is a joy 
Which novelty's stormy raptures never yield." 

I have known some one who after a few years, or 
months, of married life, imagined they had compassed 
the sphere of the one by their side ; and I have found 
them utter strangers to each other. 

What ! two immortal souls, with infinite possibilities 
entirely fathom and exhaust each other ! ! 

It cannot be. There has been no union yet of two 
souls who think they have done this. 

Yes, we admit what Peter Pindar says, 

"Wedlock is a saucy, sad, familiar state, 
Where folks are very apt to scold and hate." 

We insist however on the distinction between mere 
wedlock and marriage. 

True marriage is the nurse of all that is good. ' ' In 
her arms sweet virtue smiles, appearing, as in truth 
she is. Heaven-born, and destined to the skies 
again. ' ' 

Love is eternal, and in true marriage, grows. 

What is this which the poet Moore says to his love 
in his old age ? 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 179 

" Although my heart in earlier youth, 

Might kindle with more wild desire, 
Believe me, it hath gained in truth, 

Much more than it hath lost in fire ; 
The flame now warms my inmost core, 

That then but sparkled on my brow ; 
And though I seemed to love thee more, 

Yet, oh ! I love thee better now." 

I once found in a medical book belonging to a very 
nnromantic friend of mine, and written on the fly-leaf, 
the following little poem addressed to the wedded 
one. 

" We are growing old together ; 
When we drop the body's veil, 
The one will wait the other 
Within the silent pale. 

" Into the grand forever 
Together we will glide ; 
No power in the ages 
Our being will divide. 

" We shall grow young toge'her, 
What poet ever sung 
The raptures of Immortals 
Who love forever young ! " 

As the years go by there is a gracious trust, a de- 
licious confidence, an ever-abiding tenderness, gradu- 
ally and constantly developing. There is an increas- 
ing charm of intellect, a loveliness of life and heart, a 
beauty of spirit, far more enchanting than the spring- 
time radiance of the merely physical beauty, which 
may have faded from the face with the first spell of 
sickness. " For we know that if the earthly house of 
this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building 
(called character or self, the real person, the ego,) a 



l8o THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

building of God, a house not made with hauds, eternal 
in the heavens ' ' ; (the highest place of the soul). 

We grant you that all, even in a true marriage, do 
not attain to this lofty ideal ; but 

" Of all sad words of tongue or pen, 
The saddest are these, it might have been." 

But alas ! dangers beset us on every hand. Eternal 
vigilance is the price of love as well as of liberty. 

" A word unkind or wrongly taken ! 
Then ruder words will soon rush in 
To spread the breach that words begins ' 

There is always danger — 

" When eyes forget tlie gentle ray 
They wore in courtship's smiling day ; 
When voices lose the tone that shed 
A tenderness round all they said ; 
Then fast declining one by one, the sweetnesses of love are gone. ' ' 

Remember love is dainty and divine. It keeps at 
the modest distance which itself lends enchantment. 
Love anticipates desire ; it is obliging, and does and 
says sweet things. 

O, maiden married, beware ! The lover in the hus- 
band may be lost. *' Cultivate the graces that did his 
heart allure. These, with thy wifelv virtues, will his 
constancy ensure." 

Honest marriage is said to be like a banqueting hall 
built in a garden where the delicious breaths of violets 
dwell. And so the garden is to be tended, the violets 
cultivated, and all coarser perfumes kept out. 

I have seen a young man out a courting, whose 
kid gloves and moustache seemed both to have been 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. l8f 

laid in lavender ; for his breath was sweet as new 
mown hay. But after some time of connubial felicity, 

" With vulgar smells he saluted her nose 
From gin, tobacco and onions." 

But if it is important that woman retains the afifec- 
tion her charms have won, how much more important 
for the man to preserve her love and respect ! How 
important to his happiness, to the happiness of their 
children — to everybody's happiness. 

If any man has been wicked enough to deceive a 
trusting, guileless girl into thinking him an angel, let 
him not be weak enough to undeceive her. Let him 
struggle to maintain the character he has assumed. 

In that way only may the oflfspring be great and 
good. It is a fact not generally known, that it mat- 
ters not so much what the father of a child really is, 
as it matters what the mother of that child thinks he 
is. If she adores him, her babe will be endowed with 
the grand qualities which her love and imagination 
attribute to him. 

Some pessimist has said, or sung, that one of the 
surest phases of love, is love grown cold ; but let us 
refuse to believe it. 

In true marriage lovers have souls ever ardent and 
pure. Their affections are forever free from decline. 

The husband of the good wife, the Bible tells us, 
is "known in the gates when he sitteth with the 
elders of the land" — the city fathers. "She is not 
afraid of the snow ; for her household (including her 
husband, of course) is clothed in scarlet," (red flannel, 
I suppose). 

I met with one such case recently. A gentleman 



l82 THK WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

was thrown from his carriage, and taken up insensi- 
ble. As his clothing was being removed we could 
not but mark how immaculate was his linen — how per- 
fect in all its appointments. Even if we had not 
known him, we could not have failed to recognize the 
fact that the patient was a married man. 

Suppose some of the bachelors of our acquaintance 
had met with such an accident ! Think of the possi- 
ble revelations ! 

*' The treasures of the deep are not so precious as 
are the concealed comforts of a man locked up in 
woman's love." 

One scents the air of blessing as one comes near his 
dwelling place. 

A good wife is man's " guardian angel o'er his life 
presiding, doubling his pleasures and his cares di- 
viding." 

In his house *' She is a light shining within, when 
all without is night." 

If the man who has a good wife is known in the 
gates, no less is the woman who has a good husband. 
To such we would say, quoting Shakespeare, *' Down 
on your knees and thank heaven, fasting for a good 
man's love." 

Do you know, a woman who is conscious of the ex- 
clusive possession of a true man's devotion, never 
grows old ? She has found the fountain of youth. 
The hair may turn gray, but it is a crown of glory. 
Even the wrinkles of age become but the lines of an 
added beauty. Happiness, conjugal happiness, keeps 
the heart always young. 

The waves of affliction may have rolled over her ; 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 183 

for *' into all lives some rain must fall ; " but he has 
"kissed oflf every tear as soon as shed." 

Her clothing, according to scripture, is * ' silk and 
purple." 

To such a husband as hers, Mrs. Hemans said, 

" I bless thee for kind looks and words, 
Showered on my path like dew, 
For all the love in those deep eyes, 
A gladness ever new ! 

*' For the voice which ne'er to mine replied, 
But in kindly tones of cheer ; 
For every spring of happiness 
My soul hath tasted here. 

*• I bless thee for the noble heart, 
The tender and the true. 
Where mine hath found the happiest rest 
That e'er fond woman knew." 

Just contrast this with the other side, where, 

" The hour of wedlock ends the female reign ! 
And we give all we have to buy a chain ; 
Hire men to be our lords, who were our slaves ; 
And bribe our lovers to be perjured knaves. 
O how they swear to heaven and the bride, 
They will be kind to her and none beside ; 
And to themselves, the while in secret swear. 
They will be kind to everyone but her ! 

Or take this one, where the young wife begins to 
realize that theirs is only a fractional marriage, and 
she mournfully says, 

" How sad it will be love when we two become 
You thoughtless of me, and I careless of you, 
And our pet names grown rusty with nothing to do. 
How strange it will seem when the witchery goes 
When your dream of me loses its coleur de rose, 
When every day serves some new faults to disclose ; 
Ah me how sad it will be ! " 

And still we say it need not be. 



l84 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

Whatever else you forget iu wedded life, never for- 
get your manners. Always be polite to each other. 

Would you snap and snarl at a stranger? How 
much less at your husband, or your wife. Carefully 
observe all the rules of good breeding. An appropri- 
ate present to a bridal pair is a book on etiquette. 

As soon as one finds himself neglecting the little 
courtesies of life toward his companion, it is high time 
to take an account of stock — a failure is threatened in 
that marriage relation. 

Be lovers all your lives, is the advice we give. In 
politics you may sometimes safely differ, but iu relig- 
ion never ! Have one faith, and be sure you spend 
your vacations together. Enjoy your recreations and 
your pleasures in common. 

The golden rule is quite as valuable here as else- 
where. 

Would the husband enjoy hearing his wife rave over 
some handsome man ? How then expect her to relish 
his little joke about having quite lost his heart over 
some fresher face, or prettier form ! 

Before entering upon gallantries with other women, 
let him ask himself, '* how should I like my beloved 
to receive such attentions from another man ? " 

Not long ago I heard r. gentleman say to his wife, 
" My dear, I know you are all right ; but it would be 
such a mortification to me to have that coxcomb Jones 
think he could flirt with you ; I could never get over 
it." Yet that same man had often publicly flirted 
with other ladies. It did not seem to occur to him 
that his wife might have similar feelings on the same 
subject. It was very evident he did not do as he 
would be done by ! 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 1 85 * 

Marriage will be less and less likely to become a 
failure, as men become more unselfish, more pure, 
more true, more truly monogamic. 

Did you ever think of it, what is the reason a mar- 
ried man's opinion carries with it more weight than 
that of a single man ? Why is the former broader 
and more comprehensive in his views ; more honest 
in his policy ; more charitable, and more humane? 

The man rightly married is also known in the gates 
for a less material and even more potent reason than 
that suggested in the Bible. He has the advantage 
of two heads, which are always better than one. Be- 
fore going out to meet the elders he has wisely con- 
sulted with his wife, and so has the judgment of a 
double intellect. 

What wonder he outstrips his single brother in 
honor and in preferment ! 

It is not that men and women are so like each other, 
but so unlike, that we insist upon a fair representation 
of both. 

Behold a miracle — a marvel of nature — that two 
halves so diverse should make one perfect person. It 
is this very diversity which constitutes the basis of 
companionship, and is an essential part of matrimony. 

The individual differences are uniting differences. 
** And the lord God said, ' it is not good for man to 
be alone.' " 

In the ancient story, Adam's Eve was made special- 
ly for him. Undoubtedly there is a Jill for every Jack, 
a wife for every man. It is his business to discover 
her — to find the woman who, above all others, has 
the disposition and temperament so completely 
adapted to his own, that a union already exists be- 



l86 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

tween them so entire that it may properly be said, 
" they are not twain but one flesh." 

There is such sympathy of soul, *' thought meeting 
thought, and will anticipating will." 

The motto which Lucretia Mott gave to the newly 
married couple was this, "In the true marriage rela- 
tion the independence of the husband and wife is 
equal, their dependence mutual, and their obligations 
reciprocal." 

Having adopted this sentiment, let the husband and 
wife love so perfectly that each prefers the other's 
comfort and satisfaction to his own, and then there 
can be no domestic strife ; then there is eternal har- 
mony ; happiness is secure ; heaven has begun on 
earth ; we dwell in paradise. Then marriage is not, 
and cannot be, a failure. Then marriage is a grand 
success. 



A SUMMER DRIVE. 
CHAPTER XVI 

ONE of the most delightful story-tellers among us 
was an octogenarian, who for years had been 
warden of a Philadelphia prison. 

The judge, always interested in the study of human 
nature, especially of criminal human nature, asked 
him the effect of the pardon system in his experience. 

"It is evil and only evil," replied the old gentle- 
man. " No sooner does the convict enter his cell than 
he begins to concoct plans to get pardoned and es- 
cape just punishment. If his plans succeed he is 
soon back again ; thus showing that he has no inten- 
tion of reforming, but only of how he may get clear 
of the consequences of his crime." 

Our parson said, "It is just the same with the 
sinner against Divine law. The moral effect of the 
pardon system is the same in both cases. If you be- 
lieve that somebody has paid your debts in advance 
for sin, the temptation is to do nothing toward your 
own reformation, but on the contrary, to live up to 
the doctrine of total depravity." 

When Dr. Edward T. , the octogenarian above al- 
luded to was a very young man attending Friends' 
meeting, there was one well-meaning, sincere woman 

who afforded some persons a great deal of amusement 

(187) 



l88 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

She would quote so at random from either sacred or 
profane writers. 

A precocious boy about Edward's own age wrote 
some lines on the death of a man prominent in the 
community. The lines began, " Fully ripe like the 
ear of the reaper." The verses were anonymously 
published in a Friend's Monthly, and naturally fell 
into the hands of this "omnum gatherum." 

The next First-day when Edward and another boy 
were sitting in the meeting with the young writer 
between them, the old lady arose and in the peculiar, 
pious drawl recited, 

" Fully ripe like the ear of the reaper, 
He met the pale messenger's sword, 
O, sweet is the sleep of the sleeper, 
Who rests in the name of the Lord." 

and so on, repeating the whole poem. 

This was enough to excite them ; but when she 
added, "These words of a pious author," and went 
on to make the poem the text of her preachment, 
their excitement became too great. They could no 
longer maintain the serious deportment expected of 
Quaker boys. 

As a remarkable instance of Dr. T.'s tenacious 
memory, we must relate one more of his many well- 
told stories : 

"A young minister on a journey stopped at the 
residence of an old minister to remain over the Sab- 
bath. The elder divine asked the younger one if he 
was in the habit of writing his sermons. 

*'The answer was in the affirmative. The old 
gentleman remarked that it would be wise to learn 
extempore speaking, as he was liable to be called 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 1 89 

upon when no manuscript was at hand. The young 
man replied that he was already able to preach from 
any text in the Bible without previous preparation. 

"After someifriendly banter on both sides the young 
man finally agreed to preach upon any text which 
the other should hand him after he was on his feet to 
speak. 

" This was on the condition that the old gentleman 
would follow him in the afternoon from a text given 
under like circumstances. The old minister himself 
conducted the preliminary services in the morning, 
and then as the young one arose handed him a paper 
on which was written ' Number? xxii, 28, And the 
Lord opened the mouth of the ass. ' 

"Without any apparent embarassment the young 
man immediately proceeded to give the scripture 
narrative. 

" The children of Israel with their usual push and 
perseverance had pitched their tents in the plains of 
Moab. 

" Now the whole land of Moab was sore afraid be- 
cause the Israelites were many. 

' ' The son of Zipper was king of the Moabites at that 
time. At first the king knew not what to do, but at 
last bethought him of one Balaam who had a great 
reputation for both blessing and cursing. 

"He sent messengers after Balaam forthwith, say- 
ing * for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, 
and he whom thou cursest is cursed.' 

" Balaam consulted with the Lord over night about 
the message, and then he rose up in the morning and 
told the princes of Moab to go home, for the Lord 
had refused to give him leave to go with them. 



190 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

*' But the king of Moab would not take no for an 
answer. He sent yet again princes more and more 
honorable than they, promising to promote Balaam 
unto very great honor if he would only curse 
Israel. 

"At last the Lord gave Balaam permission to saddle 
his ass, and set out with the princes of Moab. 

" But an angel of the Lord stood in the way, an 
obstacle to his progress in that direction. 

"The ass, with the instinct of his kind for the 
supernatural, saw the angel, and stood still ; but 
Balaam, much blinder than the ass in these respects, 
saw nothing in the way. 

" Several times the angel appeared to the ass, and 
when she refused to go forward Balaam beat her with 
a staff. 

"At last the Lord opened the mouth of the ass and 
spake unto Balaam. 

"The two then had an interesting little conversation 
together, when after mutual explanations they came 
to an understanding, ' The Lord opened the eyes of 
Balaam and he saw an angel.' The sight affected 
him more powerfully than it did the ass ; for Balaam 
bowed his head and fell flat on his face. 

"Then the angel took Balaam to task for smiting 
his ass. Balaam confessed his sin, but excused him- 
self, claiming utter ignorance of the presence of the 
angel. 

" Balaam and the King of Moab were finally per- 
mitted to meet. 

"Together they went through some ceremonies of 
enchantment and divination, offering a bullock and 
a ram on seven separate altars. Balaam steadily re- 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. I9I 

fused to say anything except the words which the 
Lord put into his mouth. 

" He wisely preferred to obey his Divine Master to 
obtaining favors from an earthly king. 

" Followed by a great retinue of people and princes, 
the king, the son of Zipper, took Balaam to a high 
eminence, from which he could view the hosts of 
Israel, still hoping to exact the coveted curse. 

'' But Balaam only blessed them, exclaiming : 

' ' ' How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tab- 
ernacles, O Israel. 

" ' As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens 
by the river's side, as trees of lignaloes which the 
Lord hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the 
waters. 

" 'And the king's anger was kindled against Balaam 
because instead of cursing the enemies of the Moabites 
he had blessed them.' 

"As lessons from the text the young man said we 
could see how our perverse ways were sometimes 
hedged in ; and also how we should respect the most 
humble instrument or creature which brought us 
instruction from the Lord. 

"Afternoon came. It was the old minister's turn. 
He arose in the pulpit and at the same time received 
a paper directing his attention to Numbers xxii, 30 ; 
'Am not I thine ass ? ' 

"The old man started out pretty well with an 
eloquent tribute to the instructive and edifying dis- 
course of the morning. 

" ' My own text,' said he ' is selected from the same 
interesting history.' 

"Then he cleared his throat, and read the text 



192 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

again. ' Am not I thine ass ? ' but after repeating 
it several times in confusion and much mortification, 
he entirely broke down with the exclamation, * I be- 
lieve I am, brother, I believe I am ! ' " 

Our parson, who for forty years has made a study 
of the Bible, and can quote more scripture accurately 
than almost any other man, said it was really sur- 
prising that a layman of his age could repeat such a 
story so well. 

The way they speed the parting guest at Bethle- 
hem, with the tooting of horns and ringing of bells, 
is an amazement to those not accustomed to such 
noisy demonstrations. 

A sweet little cherub, only a little more than two 
years old, with large liquid eyes and golden hair, his 
name Theodore, which being translated is gift of 
God, whenever this dear little fellow heard any un- 
usual noise he would exclaim, *' Party going off, 
mamma. ' ' 

The Cherry Valley road is a shady and almost 
circuitous one through quiet woodland scenes. 

The first time we drove around there, being un- 
familiar with it, we wished to inquire the way, but 
the houses were few and far between. On the top of 
a hill and coming towards us, was a picturesque 
couple walking. The young man wore a red hat and 
knee breeches. The young lady was gay with scarlet 
ribbons. Of them we asked the way. "Just keep to 
the right," they said ; "you will soon come in sight 
of the Prospect House and Bethlehem." 

We ventured to ask if they were walking all the 
way round. "Oh, yes," the young lady answered. 
" It is only five miles ! we think nothing of walking 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 1 93 

twice that distance. The air is wonderfully invig- 
orating. ' ' 

The air was delightfully clear that morning, and 
when we reached Prospect House we could see the 
trains moving up and down the side of Mount Wash- 
ington twenty-two miles away. 

In this part of Grafton county the wind often at- 
tains a very great velocity. Sometimes it measures 
one hundred and fifty miles per hour on top the 
mountain, while at its base there is almost a perfect 
calm. 

It is a curious fact that the west-northwest winds 
have the greatest velocity at the summit, while the 
southerly winds have the greatest at the foot and 
through the valleys. 

After a violent storm, it may be for many hours, 
there comes lulls in the wind. At first these lulls 
are only for an instant ; gradually they increase in 
length, till at last the gale ceases and the storm is 
over. 

We were invited to a hop at Maplewood. It hap- 
pened to be just at the close of one of these big 
storms that we went. The distance was two miles. 
The night was dark, with not one star to be seen, 
save what looked like stars, the carriage lamps, which 
would occasionally flit along the road. Nine of us, 
including the driver, were packed into one of the 
mountain wagons like sardines in a box. 

The driver was a regular Jehu, and the way he put 
those " short-posted " horses over that length of road 
was a caution. 

Our parson said it was *' a tempting of Providence," 
and that he might at any moment run into another 



194 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

team and be smashed up generally and irrevocably. 
But what woman was ever kept from a ball through 
fear of damage or danger ? The ladies were in the 
majority in that load, and would not turn back in 
spite of wind and weather. 

The judge danced attendance. It was plain to be 
seen though, through all the disguise of his native 
gallantry, that he did not enjoy it. 

Arrived at the elegant hotel, a splendid scene of 
light and warmth, of music and of handsome forms 
and dresses, burst on our delighted eyes. 

The judge declined all solicitations to join in the 
merry dance, saying as Henry Ward Beecher once 
did under similar circumstances, "I have never 
danced since my father used to get after me with a 
switch." 

The ball-room was so charming that we dreaded to 
leave it and go out again into the storm and darkness ! 

"Oh night, and storm, and darkness ! ye are won- 
drous strong, yet lovely in your strength, as is the 
light of a dark eye in woman," quoted our poet from 
his corner ; and as most of us had dark eyes to begin 
with, and all looked dark in that presence, everybody 
felt complimented and comparatively comfortable. 
Nevertheless we were all thankful when our wagon 
reached the Centennial, and our feet rested squarely 
on the boards of its side piazza. 

Some one told of a countryman who for the first 
time crossed over from Camden, and wished to ex- 
press his great satisfaction at being once more on 
land, but made a little mistake in the Latin, and said 
he was "real glad to be on vice versa again." 



A SUMMER DRIVE. 
CHAPTER XVII. 

IT is expected in Bethlehem that ** the strangers 
within her gates " will encourage and really sup- 
port her numerous churches. We often felt it our 
duty to attend when every inclination would have 
kept us away. 

On one of these Sunday mornings we heard a dis- 
course in the real old style, a sort of " Brother Wat- 
kins' farewell." 

On another occasion we had a contrast to that. It 
was the new style of preaching, much after the Mother 
Hubbard pattern, who went to the cupboard. 

At one of these services Dr. McCosh of Princeton 
sat in the congregation. A more restless man than 
he seemed, was never seen. We had heard of a chair 
designed for a boy to sit on in church. The advan- 
tages claimed for the invention was that it could be 
adjusted to eight hundred different positions. We 
wished we could present one to this venerable doctor 
of divinity. 

We thought that his evident uneasiness arose from 
the uuedifying character of the exercises ; but one day 
we went to hear him. It was the warmest day of 
the season. There was a double attraction. The 
Brown University Glee club was present, and there 

(195) 



196 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

was a great crowd of people. The reverend doctor in 
the pulpit scratched his head, picked his nose, and 
during one of the sacred glees capped the climax by 
talking out loud. 

A little bit of a girl who was too young to compre- 
hend the sacred nature of " the divinity which doth 
hedge" a priest, pointed to him and exclaimed, 
"There is another bald-headed father." 

In the decoration of the church, the construction 
of the pulpit, and even in the handsome book-mark, 
our old-time parson with new-time ideas, discovered 
relics of the ancient sun and phallic worship. 

Here, no doubt quite unconsciously, the artist had 
indicated "with delicate touches and scrupulous re- 
serves, what no one once scrupled to worship in full 
faith," as symbols of life and immortality. 

The great doctor read for one hour, with his nose 
close to his manuscript, an essay on Nicodemus. 

Our parson grew weary and whispered, " How can 
a man learned in universal history and polemics, and 
famed throughout two continents, present such plati. 
tudes which any Methodist exhorter would deliver 
better!" 

The judge laughingly suggested to us that the Glee 

club ought to conclude the performance by singing 

"Wake up Nicodemus to-day." Instead of this the 

choir sang what seemed strikingly appropriate to that 

unusually hot weather, 

" No midnight sky, no clouded gloom, 
But sacred, high, eternal noon." 

An unusual number of people who had traveled 
abroad happened to form a part of our company. 
Some of them seemed to think it necessary to preface 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. I97 

the most trivial remark with, '* when we were in Eu- 
rope," or "at the time we lived next door to Syden- 
ham palace," or *' it happened when we were driving 
with my Lord and Lady So-and-so." 

One lady, however, who had spent nearly twenty 
years in foreign lands, and was really a learned and 
very accomplished person, was so modest and unpre- 
tentious, that only by accident did we find out she had 
ever been outside of her native America. 

One individual who had come into possession of a 
large amount of money late in life, and who had lacked 
the advantages of early education, afforded much 
amusement by her incorrect expressions. Of all 
countries in the world she admired Italy, and the par- 
ticular feature of her stay there which she most en- 
joyed was seeing "the statooary." Most of all she 
liked the "Appollus Beladonna and the Dying Gladi- 
olus." 

One morning we drove up Donovan hill, and our 
lawyer, who seldom told a story, told one then. The 
narrative was suggested by the name of the hill. It 
was also the name of a very modest Irishman in New 
York. 

" It was early in my law practice," said our lawyer, 
"when one day an Irishman came into my office and 
requested me to draw up a certain paper for him. He 
gave me his name as Timothy Donovan. The docu- 
ment was a long one, and the name was necessarily 
inserted many times. At last the legal paper was 
ready for Timothy's signature. What was my cha- 
grin to see him write it Timothy O' Donovan ! ' Why 
did you not tell me your name was O' Donovan ? ' I 
asked angrily. ' Sure and was it for the likes o' me 



198 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

to be putting on airs before a gentleman like yersel? * 
he replied. ' ' 

During the season at nearly every cross-road the 
little Yankee boys and girls have stands for sale of 
apples, berries and maple sugar. In this way they 
early learn to turn an honest penny. 

The recent rain had made the sandy road comfort- 
able. Clouds had partly obscured the sun and made 
driving cool. We had selected for the morning the 
road between I^ittleton and Franconia, along the south 
branch of the Ammonoosuc, through the village of 
Franconia. This is a real thoroughfare. On it we 
met loads of jolly people. With the holiday abandon, 
so common here, they waved hats and handkerchiefs 
saluting us as we passed. 

We went by the Forrest Hills House, were in sight 
of Gooduow, and drove home around Mount Agassiz. 
This Agassiz, although a little bit of a mountain, it, 
like many a little man, makes more show than one of 
a larger pattern. In the circuit which we had 
traversed of fifteen miles or more, it was hardly ever 
out of sight. Its little round, bushy head, with the 
funny little "lookout" as a red cap, stood conspicu- 
ously forth from every direction. 

Far up on one side of a mountain, looking at our 
distance like a good sized bird cage hanging from a 
wall, was the summer residence of one Gessner from 
Chicago. Being curious to get a nearer view of its 
quaint beauty, we one day when on our way to the 
bank at Littleton, made a little detour from the main 
road. Finding the way open and everything looking 
so hospitable and inviting, we went on and up, pass- 
ing the old stone farmhouse which evidently now 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. I99 

serves as a porter's lodge, passing also the bam built 
of immense stones, and looking like a fortification 
constructed to stand a seige, and so it does of winds 
and storms. On we went up a road-way that seemed 
too steep for anything. The judge reasoned that 
where horses had been, surely ours could go. Hav- 
ing reached the highest pinnacle, we found the only 
way to get down again was to take a turn all the way 
around the house. Several people stared from the 
windows at the unusual sight of strangers in their 
midst. We were there, and never expected to be 
again ; so driving slowly and as respectfully as we 
could under the circumstances, we took in all the 
grandeur of the view. 

Just as we were descending and near the porter's 
lodge, an impudent Irishman came out and shut the 
gate squarely in our faces, then with a hateful shrug 
he disappeared into the barn. The judge had his 
hands full in holding the horses, and it took the en- 
tire strength of the rest of our party to open that huge 
affair of a gate, and so get out of the scrape. 

The amount of talent congregated in Bethlehem, 
judging from that in our own little company at the 
Centennial, must have been something enormous. 
We had one painter who had distinguished himself in 
oils and water colors. We had another artist, an 
amateur, whose favorite pastime was drawing or 
sketching the lovely landscapes on postal cards. He 
was a man more than sixty years of age and had never 
taken a lesson in his life. The vividness, correctness, 
and beauty of his sketches was something altogether 
surprising and delightful. The cards which he cov- 
ered with pencil pictures, if placed together, would 



200 THE WEST- BROOK DRIVES. 

fonn a pretty panorama of peak and gorge, torrent 
and eddy, precipice and plateau, forest and boulder, 
river and cascade, all combined to fascinate the be- 
holder. 

One pleasant afternoon we were sitting on the 
piazza when we heard a team coming furiously down 
the hill towards the south. 

It was a runaway. In order that the reader may 
understand the story, it will be necessary to tell now, 
what we ourselves learned later. A mile or more in 
that direction lived the butcher who supplied several 
of the hotels with meat. Visiting him were some 
relatives from Dorchester. They were his wife's 
mother and aunt and a younger sister. Wishing to 
take a drive in town, the butcher let them take his 
horse, Nellie, on condition they would deliver a 
quantity of meat to the Alpine House. They had an 
open buggy, in it the meat, and the aunt took in her 
arms the butcher's year-old baby. 

The horses there are trained to run both up and 
down the hills, and the harder you hold them the 
faster they suppose you intend them to go. The young 
lady was driving. She knew nothing of this peculiari- 
ty, and when Nellie began to run down the hill, 
naturally, tried to hold her in. The harder the young 
lady pulled, the faster the horse ran, till both became 
terribly excited. To enter Bethlehem street their road 
made a sharp turn, and near that point we knew a 
catastrophe must soon occur. Sure enough ! Just 
opposite the steps leading up to our lawn the whole 
concern upset. The women folks reached the ground 
first, the meat and the wagon fell on top of them, and 
the horse lay flat beside them. 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 201 

Our gentlemen rushed out and brought in the 
wounded and insensible. 

Here was work for the lady doctor. Fortunately she 
was prepared for the emergency and had able assistants. 

The butcher's baby was not one bit hurt. The 
aunt had held him in such a way, and so shielded him 
with her own body, that save the fright, he was as 
good as new. 

The young lady remained unconscious a long time. 
While the doctor was searching for dislocations and 
broken bones, and her aid was applying restoratives, 
the girl suddenly opened her eyes and said : 

' ' Mother, we must not forget to deliver the meat to 
the Alpine House." 

That same evening a man who had been defying 
the prohibition law, getting the better of it, till it had 
got the better of him, ran into a couple of ladies who 
were driving opposite our house, and broke off both 
his shafts. 

This was rather a good day for accidents. The 
night promising to be fair. Dr. T. invited a beautiful 
young lady, Miss M. , to go to a concert. The age of 
each was expressed by the same figures, two and eight ; 
but one was 82 and the other was 28. Several others 
went also from the house. Before the concert was 
over a sudden storm had burst upon the town. All 
came in dripping wet from the rain. In the darkness 
Dr. T. had slipped on the board walk and fallen. 
His wrist was sprained and the flesh torn. We poured 
oil and arnica into the wound, bandaged the swollen 
wrist, gave him hot brandy and sent him to bed. For 
the rest who were only soaked and chilled, hot water 
draughts and a pediluvium were prescribed. 



202 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

About the time of the Charleston earthquake the 
weather in the White Mountains was unprecedently 
hot. The thermometer often stood at 80 degrees F. 
in the middle of the day. The haze in the atmos- 
phere was so great the sun looked red and round as if 
seen through a smoked glass. Sympathy with the 
suflferers in the South was very great. From Beth- 
lehem, as elsewhere, generous contributions were sent. 

Many were disposed to be depressed and melancholy, 
and refused to participate in any enlivening sports and 
recreations ; but our parson convinced us that he who 
mourns and makes himself miserable over the woes 
which he cannot help, only adds to the sum of human 
suffering in the world. 




"I Left You out," said the Spiteful Child. 
[ See page 90] 



A SUMMER DRIVE. 
CHAPTER XVIII. 

AUGUST 31st, at 3 o'clock, P. M., to the music of 
a tolling bell, we went to the annual Hay Fever 
convention. 

Your reporter is not a hay fever subject, but being 
related to it by marriage, was interested in the pro- 
ceedings. 

President Fay, so tall and straight, and in his gray 
blue suit, looked like a handsome Shaker. 

In his opening speech he was too funny for any- 
thing. He rather overdid it by keeping his face so 
serenely serious while his lips were uttering such 
comicalities. He gave a long list of remedies includ- 
ing many patent medicines, electricity, Turkish and 
other baths, tag alder and amber beads, down to a 
well-known concoction of sugar, hot water, lemon 
juice and whiskey. The very latest name for the 
malady he said is "Choriza Vasomoter Periodicita." 
He told us of a hay fever subject who while shaving 
was suddenly seized by the characteristic paroxysmal 
sneezing. The razor glanced and cut oflf the patient's 
nose. In his astonishment at seeing what had hap- 
pened, he dropped the razor, which, falling on his 
bare foot cut off a big toe. Remembering what he 
had heard, that a part freshly severed, if immediately 
reapplied, will grow to its place, he picked up one 
piece for his nose and the other for his toe and had 
them bound and bandaged. In picking up the pieces 

(203) 



a04 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

he had reversed them. The only inconvenience how- 
ever, which he experiences is, that now, whenever he 
sneezes he has to unbutton his shoe. 

Beecher, who was formerly the leading spirit at 
these conventions, once said, "a happier set of sick 
people were never seen than those which annually 
congregate at Bethlehem." 

The Rev. Mr. Peacock, with a doleful presence, 
quite unlike the gay bird for which he is named, 
wished to recall some things he had said last year. 

" I regret to say," said he, ''some things I told you 
then, were things I did not know." 

The ever ready Mr. Fay interrupted him with 
** Don't distress yourself Brother Peacock ; that is not 
an unusual fault among the clergy." 

The reverend gentleman's concluding advice was 
'* Leave the so-called remedies to waste their sweet- 
ness on the desert air ; and fly from hay fever as you 
would fly from sin. ' Flee as a bird to the mountain.' 
Come to Bethlehem." 

The great rise in the price of real estate is not 
strange when we realize how great a boom is this 
place of refuge to a large class of asthmatics and hay 
fever patients. One lot of land sold ten years ago for 
$200 now demands $10,000 cash down. 

Five successive Tuesdays had been appointed by 
the Amusement association as gala days and each had 
proved rainy, and some other date was substituted. 
On the last of the five Tuesdays clouds and sunshine 
had struggled together for the supremacy as usual. 
High winds finally decided the matter in favor of the 
sunshine. The public games lasted all day, and at 
night Mount Agassiz was made to represent Vesuvius 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 205 

in a state of eruption. Besides this there were mag- 
nificent fireworks at Sinclair Park. 

The management had declared their intention to 
preserve the most perfect decorum ; but there was at 
least one bar open and largely patronized. 

Late that night, long after the righteous men had 
*' retired to their respective places of abode," we were 
awakened by gay loads driving by and spelling the 
name of their hotel, either to show they had not gone 
too far in their revels to be able to spell, or else fear- 
ing to forget where they were booked for the night. 

A well-to-do country woman from Connecticut, who 
cannot afford the luxury of coming to Bethlehem to 
board, is glad to come as a chambermaid in order to 
escape her annual attack of asthma. From her we 
received several valuable little lessons in horticulture. 

"To keep the slugs from current and gooseberry 
bushes there is nothing like spraying them with a 
solution of white hellebore," she said. 

She taught us how to make a beautiful winter 
ornament for a bay window from the inch-plant and 
myrtle together. The former grows downward, and 
the latter fills up the flower-pot as the inch plant 
leaves it bare. 

She was greatly interested in the fancy work the 
ladies were doing, and every spare moment was im- 
proved in learning some new stitch or patch with 
which to decorate her far away home. 

"What are you up to now, Connie ? " we asked, as 
she sat stitching away while on watch in the hall. 

"Making a crazy quilt," she replied. 

"O, don't call it that," said the judge. " Say an 
insane protector against Arctic frigidity." 



2o6 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

Grafton county is a land flowing with milk and 
honey. Of course summer visitors make these articles 
largely in demand. Every farmer seems to make a 
business of raising bees. One wonders where the lit- 
tle creatures find flowers enough from which to extract 
so much substantial sweetness. It seemed to us a curi- 
ous fact that those who had the greatest number of 
bee-hives cultivated the fewest flowers. 

"What do I mean by bees swarming?" repeated 
the farmer with whom we talked. "Why it is the 
children of the hive leaving the old folks behind, 
going out into the world, and setting up house-keeping 
for themselves." 

The longevity in this part of our country is quite 
remarkable. In the town of Wakefield we learned of 
four generations living under one roof. There was a 
young boy of five years, his father, his grandfather, 
and his great-grandfather ! The child said he liked 
his young grandfather much the best, as the old 
gentleman was often cross to him. 

We heard of one old lady whose daughter was 
seventy-four, and when she was told how sick Han- 
nah Jane was, she sighed and said she had always been 
afraid she would not be able to raise that girl. 

On the morning of September 2nd we woke to find 
the thermometer in our room standing at 54 degrees 
F. The board walks were white with frost. Thin 
sheets of ice had formed on water which stood in the 
back yard. Snow could be seen on the top of Mount 
Washington. Potato vines lay prostrate, brown and 
dead. The maple trees were blushing scarlet and 
green. 

The air was clear and bracing. About 9 o'clock 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 2O7 

we started to drive to the Twin Mountain House so 
long associated with Beecher. We were surprised to 
find that only one of the twins, which give the house 
its name, could be seen from it. 

We had reached there so early, and the horses were 
in such fine spirits, that we concluded to drive on to 
Fabyan's for dinner. 

The day was perfect. At every turn in the road a 
new landscape was presented to view. The Ara- 
monoosuc gleamed in the golden sunshine. The 
mountains stood out clearly in the near distance. 
Mount Washington faced us nearly all the way. 

The roads were still a perpetual marvel to us — so 
smooth, so hard, and although over and among 
mountains and hills, so generally level ! The man 
that made them evidently understood his business. 

We passed the ruins of the old mill, and the falls 
foaming and plunging between great ledges of granite. 
Plates of rock were piled on each other in a way that 
reminded our parson of a similar rocky mass near the 
Delaware River. 

" Mother," he said. He was a little bit of a boy 
then. " Who piled up those rock plates ? " 

" God did it my son," answered the devout mother. 

"Will He be angry if I take out just one plate from 
His wall ? " queried the little fellow, already fearing 
to oflfend his Maker. 

The Fabyan House can accommodate 500 guests at 
once. The parlor is spacious, covering no less than 
3,500 square feet. A little yellow bird had wandered 
in and was flying about, seemingly unconscious that 
it was not out doors. The dining-room is nearly 
twice as large as the parlor. Its cuisine is far-famed. 



208 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

On one of the broad verandas of the hotel we met 
an old gentleman of Tj years with whom we fell into 
conversation. He had been a western man for more 
than half a century, but liked to return to these, his 
native wilds. Pointing to great seams on the side of 
the mountain, he said, " Sixty years ago last Friday 
a big storm, I well remember, made those immense 
chasms. ' ' 

The altitude of Fabyan's is 1,571 feet. That is 
more than a hundred greater than Bethlehem, yet the 
latter is undeniably cooler. 

The proprietors of nearly all these summer hotels 
have houses in the South, many of them in Florida, 
in winter. Thus they vibrate, " From lands of snow 
to lands of sun." 

Late that afternoon we returned to Bethlehem, still 
gazing with awe and admiration at 

" The scarred old mountains, 

Grand with their peaks sublime, 
That stand like dauntless warders 
Watching the fields of Time." 

At our hotel the maidens who had left lovers re- 
ceived almost daily some little memento in the shape 
of flowers or of dainties. On an exquisite bunch of 
lilies of the valley was written the following pretty 
verse : 

" She is not vain, this dainty flower. 
But lends her pliant form, 
To meet the motive of the hour, 

And welcome sun or storm ; 
For when there comes a cloud of rain, 
She fills her cups with dew, 
* And when the warm day comes again. 

She serves some up to you." 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 209 

The exiled wives received few attentions and no 
presents from their absent lords, save one plump little 
woman, who got a bushel of clams and a big blue fish 
by express. These she had carefully prepared, and 
generously shared them with the whole household. 
It proved a very acceptable and delicious treat. It 
was a delicious bit of the salt seashore tasted on the 
White Mountains. 

The 13th of September had arrived. The time of 
our departure from Bethlehem was at hand, 

'Tissaid that " absence strengthens love when the 
last recollections are kindly." 

Our sojourn had been so pleasant that we quite 
dreaded to leave and take up our line of march across 
Vermont, down over the lakes into the state of New 
York, down the Hudson river, through New Jersey, 
into Pennsylvania. It seemed a long way home when 
we thought of making it step by step, as horses go. 
But just there lay the simplicity and the possibility 
of the undertaking. It is easy to take a single step, 
and the longest journey is only made up of these. 

We were all ready to start at 2 o'clock P. M., when 
a heavy rain and storm of wind came on and we were 
obliged to stay at home, as we called it, the first 
night. That evening the full moon shone so brightly, 
and the weather had turned out to be so delightful, 
we were almost ashamed to have given up so easily. 

At our expense one of our party told this story : 

" Years and years ago, when there were no steam 
cars, nor even stage coaches running ; when the roads 
were little more than bridle-paths, a man in Rhode 
Island had some business to attend to in the far-off 
state of Vermont. A long time he dreaded the 



2IO THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

journey. At last, when he had made his will, and 
saddled his horse, and provided himself with a knap- 
sack of food and clothing, and there was no possible 
excuse for further delay, he kissed his wife Rachel 
and the little ones and set out, 

' ' His sadness of heart took away all appetite, and 
so he rode all day without eating ; but towards night 
the gnawings of a natural hunger reminded him of 
the provisions in the knapsack. When he opened it 
and drew forth the johnnycake, and saw the prints of 
Rachel's fingers, he boo-hooed right out. He turned 
his horse about, and went home, where he arrived 
about midnight, to stay the first night." 



A 



A SUMMER DRIVE. 

CHAPTER XIX. 

T five o'clock on the morning of September 14th 
your reporter, in opening the window shutters, 
awoke the parson, who called out, 

"Watchman, tell us of the night, 
What its signs of promise are." 

Alas, there was not in that darkened sky 
" One single beauteous ray," 
to foretell hope or joy for the day. 

A singular mirage, a river broad and seemingly 
real, wound through all the valleys toward the north 
and west, and completely concealed Littleton from 
sight. A hail-storm came on. But that did not last 
very long. Finally the sun shone faintly on our 
undertaking. 

The horses in good trim were brought to the door ; 
our traveling traps were strapped in their place ; we 
said good-by to a score or more of very dear friends, 
and with kisses and many good wishes we started. 

Our route lay through Littleton, and our first point 
of approach was St. Johnsbury, Vermont. On inquir- 
ing the way, the direction given was — " Drive to the 
next town, then to the upper village, and anybody 
there can tell you where to go next." 

The judge said it reminded him of the Pennsylvania 

Dutchman, who answered a similar inquiry, with : 

(211) 



312 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

" Yah, I can tell you the way so goot as any oder. 
You turn mit the stream ; the first house you come to 
is my son's barn shingled mit rye straw ; and he can 
tell you so petter as I can." 

All that forenoon we had only rain landscapes ; but 
the darkened sky and the moist air softened the colors 
in the trees, and brought out the different grays in 
the distance. The moisture in the atmosphere helped 
also to distill the resinous odors from furze and fern. 
So the country was still charming. Add to this our 
hearts were gay and happy too. 

The judge declared that even the horses knew we 
had started for home, and were glad. 

At Waterford we crossed the Connecticut river on 
a long covered bridge. We crossed the line at the 
same time and were in the Green Mountain State. 
Leaving the river to pursue its southerly course we 
drove due west. 

For the distance of six miles the road was perfectly 
lovely. Then for a while the country grew more 
rugged and the way more rough. 

The mile-posts advertised the St. Johnsbury stores 
in a manner that reminded us of Sheridan's ride, 
"and Winchester only five miles away." 

By the luxuriant growth of moss on the north side 
of the trees and fences we could tell the points of the 
compass. 

There were numerous guide boards to direct us ; 
and this again was fortunate, for very few people 
seemed to be abroad. We met almost no one. 

We had driven about twenty-three miles when 
Oscar began to look for a hotel. 

St. Johnsbury is the place where Fairbanks' scales 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 213 

are made. It is at the junction of three rivers, the 
Moose, Sleepers and Passumpsick, all tributaries of 
the Connecticut. 

With the Passumpsick an Indian legend is con- 
nected. The landlord where we had our dinner told 
it to us. 

He said there was a maiden, beautiful of course, 
the daughter of a chief, whose wigwam was at a bend 
in the river. She had learned a little English, and 
when some white men came and asked to see her 
father, she fearing they meant to do him some harm, 
excused him from appearing before them, saying, 
" Pa some sick ; " so the white men named the river 
where the maiden dwelt Passumpsick and went their 
way. 

Fairbanks was at one time governor of the state. 
He and his brother have most elegant residences and 
grounds. They are said to be very liberal. Entirely 
at their own expense they have founded a public 
library. Connected with it is a picture gallery. 
Bierstadt's Yo Semite nearly covers one side of the 
wall. 

The scenery in and around the town is very beauti- 
ful and diversified. The mountains are only in mini- 
ature but they are very pretty. 

Danville, where we were to spend the first night, 
was one thousand feet higher. The landlord said it 
was two hours' drive up, and only forty-five minutes 
down. We went up easily the ten miles in one hour 
and a half 

We came near being crushed by a train which gave 
no warning and dashed by two seconds after we had 
crossed the track. On the way up we passed many 



214 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

sugar-maple orchards. Tons of sugar and barrels of 
maple molasses are annually made here. 

A favorite ornament on the lawns and by the door- 
ways seemed to be sea-lions in stone. They looked 
so strange and ancient that the doctor, who is of a 
somewhat inquiring turn of mind, wished to stop and 
ask some questions about them ; but for once the 
judge was obdurate, and would not stop. She now 
readily imagined they were dug out from a mediaeval 
mound, or that they may perhaps indicate and illus- 
trate the state of sculpture and the fine arts among 
the rocky records of prehistoric man. 

As we drove towards Danville, patches of blue sky, 
and now and then a gleam of sunshine appeared ; and 
thus through an ever-moving and shifting and shining 
picture, we reached the Elm House, high above the 
clouds, and glowing in the golden rays of the setting 
sun. 

Our room was a large one in the third stor>'. It 
was light and airy, and we felt as if resting high up 
in the tops of the tall elm trees in front of it. The 
banisters shook under our hands as we climbed slowly 
up, and the floor shook under our feet when we 
reached there. Our host tried to quiet our apprehen- 
sions by telling us "that old shell had stood the 
storms of several scores of years and he guessed it 
could stand clear weather." 

The mattresses were hard and made of cotton. 

Thick cotton comforters as they call them — discom- 
forters as we call them — covered the bed. We dis- 
carded them and covered ourselves with our light 
woolen traveling shawls. We could not so easily 
discard the abomination, the square-cornered bed- 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 215 

stead, against which we bumped, seemingly without 
the slightest provocation, until we were black and 
blue in places ; and could easily have made out a case 
for assault and battery if we had been disposed to dis- 
play our bruises. 

We awoke next morning feeling as if every bone in 
our bodies were broken ; but the sunrise was flooding 
all the hills with glory ; and the sight of the exquisite 
landscape at the northern outlook, well paid us for a 
night of suffering. 

We were at Danville proper ; but there was an East, 
a West, a North and South Danville ! which was de- 
cidedly confusing. " There seems not names enough 
to go all around," said the judge, " so they call them 
all Danville and done with it." 

We got off" early that morning. It was indeed a 
perfect day ; and the roads, well they were perfect too, 
or nearly so. 

The memory of that day presents a picture in which 
graceful elms, brilliant maples, evergreens, firs, pines 
and big arbor-vitse trees mingle with river, lake, stone- 
less meadows and rocky hills, in endless variety of 
combination. 

"Devil's plum pudding," was the name which one of 
our party gave to the stony wastes which often lay in 
juxtaposition to green meadows and rich bottom land. 

The topography of Vermont is remarkably unlike 
that of New Hampshire. It is a difference which you 
can feel and see rather than describe. 

There was the usual trinity of roadside autumnal 
flowers, the purple aster, the golden rod, and the white 
everlasting ; but some how they seemed larger and 
fairer than those we had left behind. 



2l6 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

We had gone about five miles or more, whea Oscar 
made a mis-step and tore oflF his left fore-shoe. What 
to do? There was no place in sight, and the next 
town we knew was very far away. 

' ' Well here's a howdy-do ! Here's a pretty mess ! ' ' 
and the judge whistled dolefully. 

Just then we espied a fanner cutting corn in the 
field. He seemed to be about sixty years old. All 
the farmers we had seen since leaving Boston appeared 
to be just about the same age. This farmer, however, 
was distinguished from the rest by having only one 
eye. To him we called and asked the distance to the 
nearest blacksmith shop. 

"Six and a half miles," he said. "Why, what is 
the matter?" he asked with the characteristic Yankee 
directness. 

Briefly we told him the situation. 

"I'm no blacksmith," he said, "but if you only 
want a shoe put on I'd do that for ye." 

Very gladly the offer was accepted. A little flaxen- 
haired girl, with bright blue eyes, came out into the 
road from somewhere, and, with bare feet and arms 
akimbo, watched the operation. 

We had brought nails and pincers, and with these 
and a rusty old hammer that one-eyed farmer did the 
job, and did it so well that when at last we arrived at 
Marshfield, and the work was submitted to the inspec- 
tion of a regular artisan, nothing more was needed be- 
sides a little rasping of the nail points, every one of 
which had been driven directly into the old holes. 
That shoe remained in position through all the hun- 
dreds of miles home. 

When the one-eyed farmer had finished, and the 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 217 

judge asked what was to pay, he said " O nothing at 
all ;" but when the kind-hearted parson pressed a 
piece of silver into his hand the little blondina smiled 
sweetly, and the old man said, "I wish you would 
come along every day." 

Many schools were in session, made up mostly of 
girls, of course, as the boys were busy with the har- 
vest. 

Often miles of the road would lay in plain sight. 
Then it would lose itself in the valleys, only to re- 
appear in long stretches of delight on the hills. 

It was along here that we first met the Winooski 
river. It was the tiniest baby river at first, but always 
babbling ; always making a noise in the world. Snow 
fences were built many feet high to protect the roads 
from blocking up in winter. 

We passed a great many stock farms, and saw many 
Morgan horses in different stages of development. In 
one green pasture beside the never still waters of the 
Winooski, we counted nearly a dozen Morgan mares, 
some with pretty colts beside them. 

At Plainfield we had our first uncomfortable dinner. 
From there we followed the Winooski river, now 
rapidly increasing in size, to Montpelier, the capitol. 
We had crossed the Montpelier & Wells River railroad 
ten times ; five times in the first two miles, and again 
five times in the last four miles. The sole advantage 
of a one-track railroad is that when you have seen one 
train pass, you know another cannot come on imme- 
diately. 

Only a short distance from Montpelier we went 
through a very pretty forest. The judge does not often 
sing ; his talent in that direction he says was nipped 



3l8 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

in the bud by being laughed at in his youth. But on 
this occasion his soul was moved to music, and he sang 
loud and clear, and so sweetly that the robins and the 
bobolinks stopped to listen. 

" Away in the lonely wildwood." 

We arrived in the city two hours before dark, ana 
so had a good chance to see it. It is on a plain, sur- 
rounded by a highly cultivated hill country. 

The dome of the State house is very appropriately 
surmounted by a statute of Ceres, the goddess of 
agriculture. 

The capitol building is a noble edifice of light 
colored granite. Six doric columns support the roof 
and ornament the front. Beneath the portico thus 
formed stands a marble statue of the hero. General 
Ethan Allen. 

Our rooms at the Pavilion hotel overlooked the 
capitol grounds and the spacious verandas aflforded a 
lovely promenade in the beautiful moonlight. 

We were not a little excited to find a part of the 
carriage had been broken, (we did not know for how 
long) in such a way, the judge said, it had " been lia- 
ble to let us down in the middle of the road six miles 
from anywhere." Why he had settled down upon that 
exact distance for the liability of the accident, we did 
not ascertain. 

The town clock was near, and we found pleasure in 
hearing a striking bell in the night once more. For 
nearly six weeks we had been with 

" Never a clock to tell the hours." 



A SUMMER DRIVE. 
CHAPTER XX. 

SEPTEMBER i6th we awoke to find it pouring, 
and we just forty miles away from our next des- 
tination. There was to be no postponement on ac- 
count of the weather. Really there was little need of 
any delay when we could so well protect ourselves. 
As for the horses, they seemed to enjoy a shower 
bath. 

But for the rain the way would have been charm- 
ing. However, " things are seldom as bad as they 
might be," and "it is an ill wind that blows no- 
where." Our hay-fever patient congratulated him- 
self that there was no dust to bring on his symptoms. 

The little rivulet we first saw the previous day had 
kept with us all the way. It was now a rock-bound 
river. At one point it meets a rocky wall that turns 
it directly out of its course. 

The judge said " it had to make a bolt in another 
direction." "Hence," quickly guessed the doctor, 
"hence the name of this town, Bolton." 

We had been recommended to stop for dinner at a 
village of that name, and did not know where to 
find it. 

We inquired of a man whom we met walking be- 
side a loaded wagon. With a strong nasal accent he 

(219) 



220 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

answered, *' I'm just come from the state far and hoss 
show to Burlington, and don't rightly know the lay 
of the land in these parts." 

Finally our horses stopped, it seemed almost by 
instinct, in front of Bishop's hotel. 

While Mr. B. assisted the judge in seeing that Lex 
and Oscar were well attended, a pretty young woman 
looked after our comfort and built a fire in an upper 
room. Dinner, which was soon smoking hot on the 
table, was so well prepared and so tastefully served, 
and the warmth of that fire was so agreeable, and 
things so generally cosy and comfortable, that we 
concluded to stay till next day. 

The rain had ceased, but the wind was still blowing 
a gale from the south, when we went out for a walk 
to the old mill, to the river, to the station, and to the 
graveyard. 

Here the Winooski, or the Onion river, as some 
prefer to call it, flows quietly enough ; but we had 
seen it in a perfect passion of torrents only a few miles 
back. 

On the tombstones we found some novel names. 
Among them I recall Averintha and U-el-en. 

The town of Bolton was incorporated about one 
hundred years ago. It claims to be exempt from hay- 
fever, and never to have had a case of consumption. 

The people proudly tell of a visit from Lafayette 
in 1825. Some years ago in Blair County, Pa., at 
the base of the Alleghany mountains, we slept in the 
very room which had been occupied by Lafayette in 
that visit to this country. Here again, in Chittenden 
County, Vt., at the base of the Green mountains, the 
honor was repeated. 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 221 

U. S. Senator Edmunds and his daughter, we were 
told, frequently ride from Burlington to Montpelier 
on horseback, stopping as we had done, at Bishop's 
hotel over night. 

The town of Bolton is quite extensive in territory, 
and has a population of several hundred ; but this 
village is about the smallest specimen of the kind we 
ever saw. 

The nearest church is at Richmond, seven miles 
away. The post office is kept at the Vermont Central 
Railroad depot. The place is a little nook hemmed 
in by the Green mountains. The heavy winter snows 
drift in, and often block the trains for hours. At 
such times the passengers and train men are fortunate 
in finding comfort and refreshment at this old way- 
side inn. Sometimes in the night whole carloads of 
people arrive there cold and hungry, and must stay 
till snow ploughs and extra engines have opened the 
road. The Bishops always contrive to give the be- 
nighted travelers hearty cheer. 

"If it is Christian work," said our parson, "to 
give a cup of cold water, what must it be to give 
cupsful of such delicious hot coffee as they make, and 
also chickens and cakes to those who are almost ready 
to perish ! ' ' 

The pretty young woman who waited upon us 
turned out to be the landlord's daughter. She was a 
young lady of cultivation and refinement, and edu- 
cated at the convent in St. Albans. She could speak 
French like a native, and play and sing divinely, yet 
she was not too proud to act the part of waiter girl in 
her father's hotel. 

That evening we amused ourselves with her books. 



322 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

The selection of authors showed a fine literary taste. 
In an album some poor fellow had written his ex- 
perience thus : 

' ' War and love act many parts, 
War has spears, and love has darts, 
War breaks heads, and love breaks hearts." 

That night the wind blew a gale that shook the 
house. If it had not been for this bright young 
creature we should have been blue. 

We were sixty miles south of the Canada line. The 
Vermont Central which runs through Bolton, makes 
a bee line almost to the St. Lawrence river. The 
commerce between these parts is considerable. It 
seemed curious to hear these people talk of Montreal 
as if it were already one of our American cities. 

A lovely morning dawned after that windy night. 
Between 8 and 9 A. M. we left Bolton with regret and 
resumed our drive to Burlington. It was an easy road 
to find. We had only to follow the lead of the river, 
the line of the railroad, and the telegraph poles. 
Mount Mansfield and the Camel's Hump were in plain 
sight most of the way. 

"The cattle upon a thousand hills" were peace- 
fully grazing. A warm wind blew from the south- 
east. Judging from the twist of the tree trunks, and 
the trend of the branches, this must be here the pre- 
vailing wind. 

The Winooski river ran through green pastures, 
and the parson quoted : 

"He leadeth me beside the still waters. He re- 
storeth my soul. Yea, though I walk through the 
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil ; for 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 223 

thou art with me ; thy rod and thy staff they comfort 
me." 

"How beautiful! how precious!" exclaimed the 
lady doctor, moved to unwonted enthusiasm, by the 
aptness of the quotation, and the impressive manner 
in which it was given. 

"Shall we say," said the parson, "that the 23rd 
Psalm, and some other parts of the Book, the incest- 
uous story of Tamar for instance, are alike sacred? 
are both inspired, both equally divine?" 

Under the shade of a spreading chestnut tree by 
the roadside, we stopped to rest awhile and enjoy the 
cool breeze. 

A parent pumpkin vine, with high aspirations for 
the future of its progeny, had sacrificed itself in one 
huge effort at climbing. It had reached the very top 
of the high stone wall, and there laid in its yellow 
blossom, the young embryo. In the field, the pump- 
kins had grown to be large and golden ; but this 
pumpkin-head, like many in a higher grade of life, 
seemed not to have improved its superior opportuni- 
ties. In that conspicuous and favored position it still 
remained green and undeveloped. 

" The farmer will not think that thing worth pick- 
ing," said the judge. "It will not be fit either for 
pumpkin pie nor pudding." 

At the present writing the snow is laying about two 
feet deep along that road. From the top of that wall 
the snow is probably partly blown off, and that shift- 
less pumpkin, whose parent did every possible thing 
for it, and who did nothing for itself, is lying there 
in its white shroud, still green and useless, and now 
frozen stiff from the cold. 



224 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

We should have thought the environs of Burlington 
more beautiful if we had not been obliged to approach 
it so slowly. It was nearly noon of a very warm day, 
and for several miles out from the city the roads were 
dry and heavy with sand. Add to this the vehicles 
used in that part of the county are about four inches 
narrower than ours ; and so the phaeton had to cut 
one rut for itself to match the one about six inches 
deep in the sand on the other side. 

As you look westward over Burlington, the lovely 
Lake Champlain with its surrounding hills is at your 
feet. Beyond these the Adirondacks lift themselves 
in ridges like the waves of a tumultuous sea. 

Few places so fully combined the advantages of 
city and country. Broad grounds surround many 
elegant and tasteful private residences. Grand old 
trees add greatly to the attractiveness. 

On College Hill, the highest point, three hundred 
feet above the lake, is the Vermont University, the 
corner stone of which was laid in 1825 ^Y '"^'^^ Marquis 
De Lafayette. 

Two women, Mrs. M. L- Fletcher and her daughter 
Mary, founded the Fletcher Free Library. 

Burlington is admirably situated as a great com- 
mercial centre. Its lumber interests are the most 
extensive of any. In the distribution of this commod- 
ity it is already the fourth city in the Union. 

At the Van Ness House we ran into the big crowd 
of the State Fair, the one that the rustic whom we 
met near Bolton had come from and called "the 
Far." 

There is an unusual wealth of piazza about the Van 
Ness. On the one overlooking the lake we wished to 



THK WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 225 

sit, but a powerful breeze had sprung up which would 
uot permit us to wear hats nor hardly our own hair. 

The table, fortunately for us, is a bounteous one ; 
and notwithstanding the hundreds of hungry guests, 
we enjoyed a substantial and sumptuous dinner. 

Horse cars are as yet something of an innovation 
here. There is only one line. Lex and Oscar were 
resting and enjoying their oats while we took a car- 
ride to the factory village of Winooski. A handsome 
pair of sleek Morgan bays drew the car. 

After getting out of town there was a stony waste 
of a mile or so, where no passengers were to be taken 
on, or let off; and there the driver loosened the brake 
and just let those horses run. If it had not been for 
the flying steeds in sight, we might have imagined 
the cable had slipped. Well, since that day we never 
think a horse car-ride is necessarily a tame thing. 

At Winooski we discovered our river, more rough 
and rocky than ever, but caught and tamed, and har- 
nessed, and hard at work turning mill wheels. When 
its labors are over it enters the heaven of Lake 
Champlain. 

Judge William Weston, of Burlington, had not long 
ago deceased in Brooklyn, N. Y., and was an old and 
dear friend of our judge, and indeed of our entire 
party. We knew his remains had been sent to Bur- 
lington for burial, and in selecting this especial 
route we had made it really a pilgrimage to his 
grave. 

Toward evening, when the sun was sinking in the 
golden west, we started out to find his tomb. 

Judge Weston once sent us his picture accompanied 
by the following original lines : 



236 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

" I send you here a picture fair, 
Of my old-fashioned face, 
You'll know it by the curly hair, 
And wrinkles, wanting grace. 

" The time once was, 'twas long ago. 
When I was young and bold ; 
The years have changed all this you know, 
As I am growing old. 

" But 'tho I'm old and traveling on 
To a happier, better home, 
Where lov'd ones wait to welcome me, 
And cheer me when I come. 

** Yet still I love to linger o'er 

The months and years gone by ; 
And cherish friends of other days ; 
Such friends as you and I." 

Before going to reside in Brooklyn he had been one 
of Burlington's most prominent and respected citizens 
and so we had little trouble to find where they had 
laid him. It was a lovely spot not far from the ever- 
charming lake, and under a maple tree whose leaves 
were still green and untouched by the early frosts. 
There quietly beside his first and second wives he was 
resting. 

The old sexton kindly allowed us to take a tiny 
branch from the tree above his head, and then with 
*' Sweet memories of the past and bright hopes of the 
future," we left him, *'as honest and as true a man," 
the judge said, *' as the Lord ever made." 




UINGMAN'S WATKKKAIJ-. 
'■A THiSG OF Beauty is 'a .ioy koi:evkk 



[See page 49] 



A SUMMER DRIVE. 
CHAPTER XXL 

SATURDAY morning there was a mackeral sky ; 
the clouds they call mare's tails were flying, a 
gale from the southwest was blowing, and there were 
white caps on the water. And yet the signal service 
displayed the clear-weather flag. 

We had engaged passage for ourselves and horses 
over the lakes Champlain and George, on that day. 

*'I don't think these natives understand their own 
weather," said the lady Doctor, who has a nervous 
dread of stormy water. 

By breakfast time, however, these disturbances had 
all disappeared, and the day turned out to be as beau- 
tiful and bright as heart could wish. 

As an illustration of how little use it is for some 
people to try to shirk their work, and play Jonah, we 
will relate an incident which happened in this con- 
nection. 

On Friday evening our doctor found in the parlor a 
lady who was suffering from a spasmodic cough which 
was very distressing. 

Now our lady doctor has an idea that it is a part of 
her mission in life to act as a sort of "spare-hand" 
in the profession, and to do the work which no other 
will do, or that no other is near enough to do. On 
this occasion, however, she tried to persuade herself 

that this case was no affair of hers, and when she could 

(227) 



228 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

endure the sight and sound no longer she ran oflf to 
her own room and went to sleep. 

In the night that sound of sufifering several times 
smote upon her ear. She reproached herself for not 
having attempted to relieve the suflferer and to have 
saved many others from having their sleep disturbed. 

At breakfast time the sick lady was seated at the 
same table and directly opposite her. From some 
conversation between the lady and her husband, it 
appeared that they were to be passengers on the same 
boat that day. Then the doctor's courage arose and 
she offered to try to relieve the unpleasant symptoms. 
The offer was gratefully accepted. Fortunately the 
prescription acted like a charm, and afforded immedi- 
ate relief. 

For the lake now known as Champlain, the Indians 
had a name which meant " The gate of the country." 
It was an important point in the rude warfare between 
the Algonquins and the Iroquois. It afterwards 
proved itself an important point when England and 
France spent life and treasure fighting for its posses- 
sion. 

The white discoverer, whose name the lake now 
bears, named it, seemingly in sarcasm on account of 
the quantity of blood spilt there, Lake Saint Sacra- 
ment. 

The elegant and commodious steamboat Vermont 
was full of passengers that bright Saturday morning. 
The air was clear and bracing. The water calm, and 
reflecting heaven's own azure blue. 

The Green Mountain ranges on our left and the dis- 
tant Adirondacks sinking into the horizon along our 
right, and stretching both north and south for a hun- 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 229 

dred miles or so ; the lake gemmed with green islands, 
and reflecting the lovely banks and braes as in a mir- 
ror ; all this and much more furnished a delightful 
and ever varying panorama. 

Besides our patient, in whom we continued to be 
interested, there were some other people on board who 
afforded us entertainment. 

There was a bride and groom on whom this grand 
scenery was all wasted. They saw nothing save the 
light in each other's eyes. They used the same pocket 
handkerchief without a consciousness of the absurdity 
of the thing. 

Out on the deck was an old man making love to a 
young woman in a red bonnet. He sat leaning over 
toward her in such a strained position so long, and in 
the very cool wind, that our doctor feared he would 
get rheumatism, or contract his death cold, but "Love 
some day must come to all," and in this instance it 
seemed to have come very grotesquely, 

" There is no fool like an old fool," whispered an 
elderly lady, no doubt aggravated by the knowledge that 
her own charms were departing, and by the thought 
that her own husband might be enacting this tableau 
of December and May sometime. 

There was an English snob on board with a light 
gray suit and a long plaid ulster. He wore the tra- 
ditional eyeglass, and seemed to despise this "blasted 
countrj^" 

The wind was full of pranks that day, and among 
other comical things it did, it lightly lifted an old 
lady's velvet polonaise and disclosed to the gaze of 
possible pickpockets, a bag full of money tied on 
behind. 



330 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

A young lady, who evidently lacked common sense 
and discretion, was traveling all that one hundred and 
fifty miles over which these boats go, in a thin white 
muslin dress and slippers. 

The upper saloon was heated and would have been 
very comfortable but, alas, for the perversity of human 
nature, the doors to the windward side were constantly 
opening and shutting, while the one opposite was not 
used at all. 

We were glad to meet on board the Vermont Mr. 
Barney, the polite general superintendent of the Lake 
Champlain Transportation Company, with whom we 
had correspondence before leaving Bethlehem, and 
again saw at Burlington in relation to taking our es- 
tablishment over their entire line, including Lake 
George. We were glad to be reassured by him that 
their boat on the latter lake would certainly be held 
waiting for us while we drove the five miles between 
the two landings. 

At Westport, N. Y., just opposite Vergennes, Vt., 
we were informed that only ten miles away was John 
Brown's old place, one of the depots of the under- 
ground railroad for slaves running into Canada. Some 
fine voices sang "John Brown's Body." 

Soon after leaving Crown Point an excellent dinner 
was served on board the boat. We were just through 
it when we arrived at Fort Ticouderoga, where in the 
old Revolution Ethan Allen, the daring leader of the 
Green Mountain boys, surprised and captured the 
British Fort, the surrender of which he demanded 
*'In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Conti- 
nental Congress." 

At this historical spot we landed. The horses were 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 33I 

soou harnessed, and we started on a race with the 
steam cars which carried the rest of the passengers to 
take the steamer Horicon at Baldwin, five miles off. 

The horses were in fine spirits and we drove rapidly, 
not wishing to cause any unnecessary delay. Away 
we flew over the road at the rate of a mile in seven 
minutes. 

In just thirty-five minutes we were in sight of the 
landing. To our utter consternation the boat was 
moving away. I never saw the judge so agitated. 
His face was white and his voice shook as we stopped 
and asked a man virho was coming up from the land- 
ing, if the boat had really started or was only turning 
around. 

It had really gone the man said, but by driving 
very fast we might possibly catch it at Rogers' Rock, 
two miles away. Ou we drove faster than ever, but 
only to have the same experience over again. The 
Horicon was standing out, its walking beam was in 
motion. 

We were left ! Where we were, or what to do, we 
did not know. 

It was Saturday afternoon, and we did not know 
there was any accommodation for travelers within 
fifty miles. And if there were, Saratoga and the Uni- 
tarian convention, and the United States hotel, were 
expecting us early on Monday. 

Again we inquired, this time for a place to stay over 
Sunday. 

*' Why right here," said a man. '* This is Rogers' 
Rock Hotel." 

The house was still open, although most of the sum- 
mer guests had gone. Its location is charming ; so 



233 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

was the proprietor, and the few people who remained. 
The building is on a rocky eminence quite above the 
water. Our rooms were on the south-east corner, 
looking out over the silvery waters, and affording a 
view never to be forgotten. 

We explored the mountain paths and shady nooks, 
and tried the rustic seats, and rested in the beautiful 
bowers, went down to the water's edge, and from the 
sandy bottom watched the pickeral and the perch at 
play. 

Then for a long time we sat upon the rocks observ- 
ing the squirrels laying in their winter store. A little 
fellow would go up a tree, run out on a branch, and 
bite off a dozen or more acorns or hickory nuts, let- 
ting them fall to the ground ; then descending, he 
would test them to see if they were wormy, quickly 
peel off the outside bark, pack a load into his mouth, 
and hurry away with them to his residence under the 
board walk. 

Thus we wandered about in this Eden-like spot 
without a thought of personal danger ; but if one-hall 
the snake stories we afterward heard are true, we won- 
der we ever returned to tell the tale. 

It was afterward told us as a fact that the men who 
hire out for the season at Lake George, are required 
to hunt and shoot rattlesnakes for an hour ever>' 
morning before the guests are up. They often find 
them on the board walks and even in the dining room. 

In a little council which we held, we concluded that 
we would drive on the next day, Sunday, (considering 
it a work of mercy and necessity), as far as we could 
towards Saratoga, thus making up for this enforced 
delay. 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 233 

When we told the landlord of our plan and asked 
his help in arrranging the route, we became aware that 
we were in a sort of enchanted castle from which we 
could not easily escape. 

He said we would have to drive back to *'The" 
village, go over very bad roads to Sabbath Point, and 
there the road really ended. Then if we insisted upon 
going further we must cross on a flat-boat, go through 
the town of Putnam into Vermont again ; and from 
there it seemed doubtful whether or not we could ever 
get to where we wanted to go. 

Well ! then we gave up all thought of getting away 
by carriage, and concluded to content ourselves as 
best we could till the next boat went over the lake on 
Monday. 

The judge found some relief in writing General 
Barney, of Burlington, a letter. Happily, as the sequel 
will show, no mail left Rogers' Rock that night, and 
the next day the letter was recalled from the landlord's 
post office box. 

A delicious supper, agreeable company, parlor 
games, and some interesting conversation, put us in 
good humor, and we slept sweetly. At five o'clock 
the next morning your reporter was awake. Gazing 
from the window far down the lake, something which 
looked like a miniature steamboat appeared. Gradu- 
ally it came nearer, and grew larger. Then we aroused 
the judge, saying, " O look ! they have sent a boat 
after us." "Nonsense !" was the only response he 
made ; and turning over was soon sleeping audibly 
again. 

The rest of our party watched till we could make 
out the name ' * Horicon ' ' on the side of the vesssel ; 



334 'f^B WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

then we knew we were sent for. Soon the boat 
touched at our wharf ; the captain sprang ashore, and 
we saw him walk rapidly up the hill. We heard our 
host say as he came through our corridor, ** They 
won't go." Your reporter opened the door and 
shouted, 'We will go." 

The deck hands helped the hostlers take the horses 
and phaeton on board while we were dressing. 

The judg« told the captain he was glad to go with 
him, but wanted his breakfast. " Breakfast is waiting 
for you on the boat, ' ' the captain said. 

Then the judge asked the landlord for our bill. 

"It is already settled," was the courteous response. 

On board we were introduced to Captain Manville's 
wife, their two daughters and a niece. With them we 
had a very pleasant breakfast. Afterwards they vied 
with each other in attending to our comfort, and in 
pointing out the places of interest along the line. 
This was our first sail on the silvery surface of Lake 
George. It was an event ever to be remembered with 
pleasure. We have no words with which to express 
our delight in this picturesque and charming scenery. 
The many islands add an attraction all their own. 
One island had the shape of the dome of the cathedral ; 
another which they call Sloop island, we mistook in 
the distance for a small ship under full sail. 

Of course we were curious, as no doubt, the reader 
is, to learn why we had been so unceremoniously left 
the day before. 

Captain Manvill's explanation was entirely satis- 
factory. 

He had received the order all right on Saturday 
morning ; but at Baldwin he had a large excursion 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 335 

party on board. There was a drinking saloon near 
the landing, and several of the young men were drink- 
ing heavily. Fearing they would get so full that they 
would cause a disturbance on board, and perhaps in- 
jure his boat, he thought of nothing but of getting 
them away from the temptation, and thus he forgot 
the special order to wait for us. When he reached 
Caldwell, the end of his route, a dispatch was handed 
him from General Barney, who, in some way un- 
known to us, had found out we had been left. The 
dispatch recalled us more emphatically than agree- 
ably to mind. It read : 

' ' Find the Westbrooks before seven o' clock Sunday 
morning, and take them to Caldwell." 

Mrs. Manville told us they had passed a sleepless 
night, not knowing where we were or what might 
have happened to us. Before daylight dawned they 
had started on their search. They had certainly 
found us in very comfortable quarters, and aside from 
the disappointment and excitement which we had un- 
dergone, no harm had come. The amende had been 
handsomely made. 

When we had come nearly the entire length of the 
lake, thirty-five "liquid miles," winding sweetly 
along between verdant hills, and among the two hun- 
dred islands which dot its surface, we had become so 
steeped, as it were, in the marvelous beauty that we 
could have sailed on forever. 

" No more no more, 
The worldly shore 
Upbraids me with its loud uproar ! " 

The judge was, as usual, the first to recall his 
** tranced sense." He walked up to the captain's 
office to settle. 



236 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

"There is nothing to pay," said Captain Man- 
ville. This gentleman, by the way, we are glad to 
see from the New York papers, is recently re-elected 
to a seat in its legislature. The duties there and those 
on the Horicon do not conflict, as they, of course, 
occur at the different seasons of the year. 

As soon as we were safely at Fort William Henry 
Hotel, the judge wrote to the Lake Champlain Trans- 
portation Company, asking as a favor, that the cap- 
tain should not be censured. On our arrival home we 
found a letter waiting from General Barney, saying 
that a violation of orders was a grave offense in their 
company ; but inasmuch as we had sustained no in- 
jury, and at our request, the matter was overlooked. 



A SUMMER DRIVE. 
CHAPTER XXII. 

THE unusual sight of the Horicon out on Sunday, 
and making no stops, created much comment 
on shore. Some suspected that Captain Manville had 
the Cleveland party on board. 

Arrived at the southern end of Lake George, we 
drove up to Fort William Henry hotel. Imagine a 
piazza 334 feet long and 25 feet wide, with rich Corin- 
thian columns 30 feet in height. Imagine this at 
night, lighted by electricity, throwing a semi-sun- 
light over thirty acres of ground, made elegant with 
ornamental shrubbery, fountains and flowers, and re- 
flecting far out on the waters of the lake. On the 
steps of this piazza we met some old acquaintances, 
the McS s of Philadelphia. 

'* How did you get here ? " they exclaimed in sur- 
prise. 

"We came on the Horicon," our doctor quietly 
replied. 

" That does not run on Sunday." 

"It did to-day," she said. "It came purposely 
for us." 

After enjoying their amazement a little while we 
told them all about how it happened. 

"That trip did not cost the company, or the cap- 
tain, less than fifty dollars," somebody told us who 
knew about such things. (237) 



238 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

*' They saved more of real value than they spent," 
answered another. " They saved their reputation as a 
magnificent and reliable corporation." 

Over the dining-room door at the Fort William 
Henry hotel is the legend, "Hold the Fort." It is 
worth while to do that, the dinners are so nice. Some 
idea of the size of the house can be obtained from the 
fact that 1400 Westinghouse incandescent electric 
lights illuminate the rooms. 

Our chambermaid was an immense creature, "pro- 
portioned to the size of the rooms," the judge said. 

That evening we were treated to a grand pyrotech- 
nic display from the heavens themselves. A shower, 
with heavy thunder which reverberated among those 
high hills, and lightning that eclipsed the electric 
lights, lasted for more than an hour. 

Monday morning, September 20th, the sun was still 
struggling with the clouds when, after an early break- 
fast, we started for Saratoga Springs. The first nine 
miles we had a plank road, which was almost as 
smooth as a house floor. We paid twenty -four cents 
toll, and thought it well worth the price. 

In going to Glens Falls we passed over several 
historic spots, and the scene of one of Cooper's 
novels. 

At Glens Falls we crossed the Hudson river. A 
succession of falls, making altogether a descent of 
fifty-six feet, and presenting a picturesque sight of 
rushing waters, gave the name to this beautiful vil- 
lage. 

The streets are broad and well shaded, and there 
are many attractive and handsome houses. We stop- 
ped to rest at the Rockwell house a little while. 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 239 

There we found our bride and groom of the previous 
Saturday. "It is a great mistake for people to start 
off traveling when they are just married. They 
should wait till they are better acquainted," said the 
lady doctor. 

" It made my heart ache to see how homesick that 
bride looked. I know she had been crying and may- 
be wishing for her mother." 

For several miles after leaving Glens Falls we en- 
countered a sandy road that made us wish for another 
two-shilling toll-gate. 

As we approached Mount McGregor we had alter- 
nate sunshine and squalls that were almost snow. 
This was not strange as our road lay along the edge 
of the Adirondacks. Hotel Balmoral, and the Drexel 
cottage with all its sad associations, with distress and 
death, crown the summit of Mount McGregor, i3(X) 
feet above the sea. 

In all the drive of thirty miles to Saratoga we saw 
but two settlements of any size. We could not help 
contrasting this with certain parts we had been over 
in New England, where the villages were strung like 
beads on the winding thread of the road. 

We drove into town at the same instant as the 
train, which started from I^ake George two hours 
later with our friends from Fort William Henry hotel, 
entered it. We all reached the United States hotel 
at the same time, and claimed the rooms we had en- 
gaged weeks before. 

Although this hotel covers seven acres of ground 
and contained several hundred apartments, the gath- 
ering clans at this Unitarian convention were so 
many, every bit of space was soon full. It would 



240 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

seem that this is the established church in Massachu- 
setts. And indeed many delegates were there from 
all parts of the country and from some foreign coun- 
tries. It was a brainy national and international 
gathering of liberal christians, and of Christian Lib- 
erals, and of some who would accept the name 
liberal and discard the term christian altogether. We 
were only "Lookers on in Venice," and so were at 
liberty to enjoy all these shades of opinion. James 
Freeman Clarke and Edward Everett Hale of Boston, 
G. Vance Smith of Wales, Stopford Wentworth Brooke 
of London, and many other brilliant lights in the re- 
ligious and literary world were present. 

The opening sermon was by the poet preacher, 
John W. Chadwick of Brooklyn. His subject was 
"The Divine sufificiency," from the text, "Our suf- 
ficiency is of God." He emphasized the fact that it 
is ias shocking to the Jew and to the Unitarian to see 
the other sects worship the man Jesus as it is to them 
to hear the divinity of Christ denied. "Why do 
they slight the Holy Ghost?" he pertinently asked, 
"if as they profess to believe, these three are 
one ! ' ' 

Our parson quietly said to us as we walked out in 
the clear starlight, "The Unitarians are not emo- 
tional like the Methodists, nor logical like the Pres- 
byterians. While the Universalists think God is too 
good to damn anybody, the Unitarians pride them- 
selves on their respectability and think themselves 
too good to be damned ; and it seems to me they axe 
not very wrong in their estimate of themselves." 

Our doctor said " It seems to me that Unitarianism 
has been to the religious world what homeopathy has 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 241 

been to the medical. In each case the old system has 
been modified and softened, and made less obnoxious 
and less bigoted. ' ' 

Before we slept that night we had a refreshing 
draught from the ever delightful Geyser springs ; and 
early in the morning we walked out to quaif health 
from the Hathorn. 

A part of the forenoon was spent in the reception 
of the foreign delegates. In response to the speech 
of welcome, G. Vance Smith said : 

" You Americans are schooled in the art of flattery. 
At home we modestly considered our greatness quite 
local. We come here and are astonished at being told 
that you know all about us, and appreciate our works. 
Crossing the water from England to America has 
seemed to us a pleasant sort of death from which we 
find ourselves enjoying as it were a posthumous 
fame. ' ' 

We did not confine ourselves to attendance upon all 
the meetings, and should not attempt a full report of 
the proceedings if we had. 

That afternoon we took Lex and Oscar out for a 
little exercise to some of the various springs and 
lovely lakes in the vicinity. A high wind was pre- 
vailing, and it was a little too cool for our comfort, 
but the horses were in fine spirits and enjoyed it. 

The Methodist church being large and commodious 
is hired for this biennial convention. The pastor in 
charge attended nearly every meeting and sat on the 
platform, and often made some bright little speech as 
Methodist ministers know so well how to do. He 
has since, as we see by the papers, been "hauled over 
the coals" by his less liberal brethren, and made to 



342 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

back down from some of the nice and complimentary 
things he said then. When, for instance, he observed 
that it was the Unitarians who discovered the hu- 
manity in divinity, and the divinity in humanity, we 
thought the fact was very handsomely stated. One 
cool day he grimly said, '* if any one is suflfering, we 
will be glad to give the convention a little fire from 
below." 

A certain crank who had some control over the 
matter, refused to allow the gas to be lighted under 
the galleries ; and to those who sat there he constantly 
alluded to as *' they who sit in darkness." 

Tuesday the convention, in about thirty minutes, 
raised $ii,ooo with which to rebuild the sister church 
thrown down by the Charleston earthquake. En- 
thusiasm ran so high that some thought it owing to 
the Methodistic influences remaining in the Metho- 
dist building. The church was filled to overflowing. 
It was very curious to see a dozen or more ministers 
of the Unitarian denomination around that altar. 

" Come kneel around the altar, 
Kneel around the altar." 

softly hummed our parson, remembering old revival 
times. 

We had been longing for the luxury of a Turkish 
bath ever since leaving Philadelphia. Besides that, 
the sudden change of weather at Saratoga had given 
us a cold ; and for a fresh cold our favorite remedy is 
that kind of a bath. At Dr. Strong's on the hill was 
the only place where one could be obtained. We 
missed several essays which we wished to hear, and 
went to Dr. Strong's, but only to be informed that 
was not the day for those of our sex ! 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 343 

In no very good humor we returned in time to hear 
Minot J. Savage, of Boston, on immortality. 

It was a masterpiece in its way ; finely portraying 
the tendency of modem thought, and sustaining spirit- 
ualism pure and simple. We were glad to see he has 
the courage of his convictions ; for, it required no 
small amount of heroism to stand in that eminently 
respectable presence and advocate an unpopular 
belief 

At the Women's Auxiliary Conference, presided 
over by a woman, and attended almost exclusively by 
women, we had the anomaly of Edward Everett Hale 
called in to do the praying ! 

** No man can pray better than a woman," said our 
doctor quite indignantly. "The lives of most women 
are one continuous prayer ; while men only pray oc- 
casionally, on state occasions, as it were, and often 
only to be seen and heard of men." 

One of the most interesting sessions was that de- 
voted to the consideration of " Religion in its relation 
to Labor and Capital." 

To hear some labor agitators talk one would im- 
agine there never was a time when poverty was so 
prevalent. Hon. Carroll D. Wright denied that prog- 
ress increases poverty. He drew a fine contrast be- 
tween the almost universal poverty of the past and the 
comparative plenty of the present. 

One speaker told of some of the great improvements 
in agriculture and of the labor-saving machines which 
had proved a blessing. He described a farm in Da- 
kota, of thirteen square miles, where by aid of ma- 
chinery, the average production was five hundred and 
fifty bushels of wheat to one man's labor. 



244 '^HE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

The great changes made in commerce by the open- 
ing of the Suez canal were explained in a truly edify- 
ing manner. 

Hon. David A. Wells illustrated how we are con- 
quering time and annihilating space by modern 
inventions and improvements. He said the last thing 
he did as he left his home in Boston was to wire his 
agent in Calcutta to buy a certain quantity of hides 
and gunny bags ; and if he could not charter a proper 
vessel to buy one immediately. The answer received 
at his hotel the next day was : ' ' Have bought the 
vessel and am now loading/* 



A SUMMfcR DRIVE. 
CHAPTER XXIII. 

ON Friday we had a long ride through Judge Hil- 
ton's Woodland Park. It contains eleven hun- 
dred acres and is ornamented with beautiful statuary 
and traced by miles of macadamized roads through 
meadows and forest. It is said that A. T. Stewart's 
money built it ; but a large and ever-increasing public 
appreciates it. 

We stayed in Saratoga till the last Unitarian gun 
was fired ; the great sociable held ; the hordes of min- 
isters and laymen dispersing ; then we gathered up 
our lines and Saturday morning, September 25th, 
drove towards Albany. 

As we went along we congratulated ourselves on 
the "Feast of reasoning and the flow of soul," of the 
week just ending. The parson said " We who are on 
the border land of Liberalism and Orthodoxy can go in 
and out at pleasure and find pasture everywhere." 

" Our party," said the lawyer, " does not seem to 
belong to that large and respectable class who are de- 
termined to learn nothing that their mothers did not 
teach them." 

" While it is no kindness to a chicken to pull its 
shell off till it is ready to come out, you cannot put a 
chicken back into its shell when once it gets out," 
responded the judge. (245) 



246 THE WEST-BROOK DRI\^ES. 

The doctor, who is slightly more conservative than 
the rest, said, " It is not very healthful, nor comfort- 
able, to take the old hair oflf a colt until the new hair 
is ready to grow. ' ' 

There were two ways to go to Albany ; and if one 
person told us which was the better, the next person 
would recommend the other way. Under these cir- 
cumstances we found it difl&cult to decide. 

Fortunately both ways were the same for the first 
seven miles. At Round I^ake we must choose be- 
tween them. 

**The right man generally turns up at the right 
time," said the judge, when at this point, also called 
Slab City, we met a man who looked as if he might 
be the county sheriff. He had lately driven over both 
roads, and he told us the one through Loudonville was 
decidedly the better. 

Our parson told of a man in prayer meeting, a 
farmer from this region, who said he could fellowship 
all denominations. He said it made no difference to 
him by what road one went towards Heaven. 
"When," said he, "I sold my wheat in Albany, they 
never asked by which road I came, so long as my 
wheat was good." 

At a place called Crescent we crossed the Mohawk 
river over a bridge nearly twelve hundred feet long. 
It was the broadest river for its depth we ever saw. 
The Erie canal crosses the river on the same bridge. 
The canal leaked considerably, and this water from 
above falling into the water of the Mokawk below, 
produced a strange sound which made lycxington 
dance with nervous fear all the way over. 

We came through a very fertile farming region. 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 247 

The domestic fowls were allowed to run in the grain 
fields and were about the fattest ever seen. 

'* These turkeys," observed the judge, " little think 
how soon Christmas is coming and they will be in- 
vited with pinioned arms, to sit by the fire and warm 
themselves." 

At Latham Corners we passed within three miles of 
a whole community of several hundred people who 
were waiting anxiously to see us. We had no idea we 
were so near their place. 

"If there is anything in psychology, " said our some- 
what skeptical doctor, when several hours later Elder 
Galen Richmond, the visible head of the community, 
informed us of the fact that we had been so near, 
"if there is anything in psychology, we ought to 
have been conscious of an unseen influence ; we ought 
to have felt an irresistible drawing in that direc- 
tion." 

"Do you remember," said the judge, "how the 
horses showed a disposition to turn toward the right 
just there? " 

"Shall it always be," said the parson, " that Ba- 
laam's ass will know more than his master? " 

About noon a storm came on. We arrived at 
Steamboat Square in Albany between one and two 
o'clock, in a pouring rain. The afternoon, however, 
passed comfortably and cosily with a whole house- 
hold of cousins who had gathered to meet us. At 8 
P. M. quite a crowd of them came on board the Drew 
to see us off". 

On the Drew, one of the elegant water palaces be- 
longing to the river, we floated down the Hudson so 
quietly, we slept like babies in a cradle. 



248 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

" In the flow of this noble river 
Down to the open sea, 
Is a song of the Bountiful Giver, 
A wonderful song to me. 
" Along with ripple and laughter, 
Into its quiet repose, 
Not dreading for once the hereafter, 
The beautiful river goes. 
"With glances now shy, now tender, 
It hurries away from me ; 
Its own glad life to render 
Up to the mighty sea. 
" O mystical, beautiful river ! 
I gather a lesson from thee ; 
To give my life to the Giver, 
As thou givest thine to the sea. 
" For just as the ocean's caressing 
Fills up the river again, 
So God pours the tide of His blessing 
Into the lives of men. 
" So journeying along on this river 
I learn this lesson you see ; 
As I give my life to the Giver 
He giveth His life to me." 

When we awoke Sunday morning the sun was shi- 
ning on the Palisades near Weehawken. The Palisades 
appear hear as an unbroken precipitous wall more 
than three hundred feet high, and twenty miles long. 

This remarkable belt of trap rock has at some re- 
mote period been forced up, undoubtedly by volcanic 
action, through the red sandstone formation. The 
immense mass which faces the river in vertical 
columns, gently slopes towards the west and affords 
charming sites for the residences of rich New 
Yorkers. 

We had chosen a Sunday morning for landing in 
New York ; as then the streets are comparatively clear. 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 349 

The horse-cars formed the only obstacles in our path 
as we wended our way through the lower part of the 
city, and crossed the great Brooklyn bridge, several 
hundred feet high, over the East river, to one of our 
dear old homes on Brooklyn Heights. 

Greetings with our well beloved friends were hard- 
ly over when it was time to start for Chadwick's 
church in order to hear a sermon from Simmons of 
Minneapolis, that we had missed at Saratoga. 

The judge had already heard the essay, so he re- 
mained behind to enjoy the pleasure and the refresh- 
ment of both soul and body, he calls it, which is to be 
found in the Turkish bath ; and nowhere in such per- 
fection as in Dr. C. H. Shepherd's establishment, the 
oldest one of the kind in America. 

Mr. Chadwick prayed in his inimitable way that 
makes you feel as if he were taking you with him into 
the very holy of holies, and into the Divine Presence. 
Then he presented his people with a rich slice of the 
convention, as some parents take home to the children 
a piece of plum cake from a party. Then Mr. Sim- 
mons spoke of "The divinity in man." The speaker 
said many interesting and remarkable things. He 
showed that man is a great creator, producing new 
forms of vegetable and animal life. The prophet 
Isaiah in his conception of the Almighty had only got 
as far as God weighing the mountains. Our astrono- 
mers weigh the whole solar system, and by the spectro- 
scope find out what the sun itself is made of. 

The Unitarians will never possess the world. They 
lack personal magnetism and they are lacking in 
sociability. They need a new introduction every 
time they meet you. 



250 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

A member of one of these churches told us she had 
been attending at one place since she was a little girl 
thirty years ago, and yet there were not a dozen people 
whom she should expect to speak to her if she met 
them on the street. Behold how these brethren must 
love one another ! 

At dinner that day we met a life-long friend of 
Theodore Parker and of Horace Greeley. He was an 
old-time Abolitionist, and also like Greeley a Vermont 
man, and self-made. Like Horace Greeley again he 
is a distinguished journalist. He is Oliver Johnson, 
formerly publisher of the New York Independent. 

For thirty-nine years he said he was a husband withe 
out a sign of a baby in his otherwise happy household. 
Then suddenly losing all he had in life to live for — 
his wife — in two years after, there came to him, 
through the kind administrations and Womanly inter- 
ventions of the authoress " H. H.," a second charm- 
ing companion and the sweetest girl baby in the 
world. The child is now ten years old, with flaxen 
curls and lovely blue eyes. Gratefully they named 
her Helen Hunt. The mother and child are now the 
comfort and stay of his old age. 

Connecting with the Pennsylvania railroad is a line 
of boats called the Annex between Brooklyn and Jersey 
City. Monday morning, September 27th, we crossed 
with horses and phaeton on one of these boats. 

Through Jersey City and through Newark, a land 
flowing with liquor and lager, we had more difl&culty 
in working our way than we had in all of the rest of 
the journey put together. The people of whom we 
inquired were positively so stupid, and so stupified, 
they could not tell us how to get to the next street. 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 25 1 

There was an average of at least one rum shop to 
every corner, and half the men we met were blear- 
eyed, red necked, bloated and shattered. 

"If rum only caused ruin and deformity to the 
present generation it would still be sufficiently dread- 
ful," said the doctor, "but just think of its effects 
that are being transmitted to unborn children, and to 
children's children, even to the third and fourth gen- 
erations. The drunkards themselves are the most 
effective temperance lecturers that I know. ' ' 

On a very long bridge we crossed the Hackensack 
river. Here we met the third toll-gate on all our route. 
The marvel was we found so few. 

At Newark we were attacked by the first mosquitoes 
we had seen this year. They were so savage they 
actually drew the blood. It would seem that those 
who live among mosquitoes become so inoculated that 
they do not suffer from the poison as strangers do. 
This little creature flourishes mostly in malarious dis- 
tricts and "It may be," said the doctor, "in some 
way which as yet we are not wise enough to compre- 
hend, the two poisons counteract each other." 

We were very glad to get beyond the entangle- 
ments of Newark streets and strike into Frelinghuysen 
avenue, which is macadamized through its centre and 
has a roadway of Nicholson pavement on either side. 
Passing over this for five miles we come to the bank- 
rupt town of Elizabeth. Robbed by those whom she 
had chosen to protect her interests, her taxes are 
enormous. It is difficult to sell property there as the 
assessments are greater than the rent. 

We dined at the Sheridan house that day, and then 
went out to view the place. 



252 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

In 1847 our parson, then a very young man, was 
* * stationed ' ' as the Methodists say, over the church 
in Elizabeth, as the place was then called. The 
building is now very much dilapidated ''as well as 
the Orthodoxy which he taught then," our parson 
said. 

One of his former parishioners was G G , 

whose residence still ornaments Jersey avenue. By 
his own persistent efforts he had amassed an amazing 
amount of wealth, but having had no early education 
he was the laughing stock in the society in which he 
attempted to move. 

One day, having invited a select party to dinner, 
he was pointing out the various treasures on his ex- 
tensive grounds, when some one inquired about a 
clump of pretty green shrubbery. 

**Them," said Mr. G , "them is squinches." 

Upon examination they proved to be quinces. On 
one occasion there was considerable excitement when 

it was found that Mr. G had bought up all the 

centre lots in a new cemetery. It was supposed he 
had done this on speculation, but when he was called 
to an account for it, he said not so. He had bought 
them for himself. He had done it to prevent being 
buried so near a certain man whom he detested, that 

when the devil came after So-and-so, he, G G , 

might not get carried off by mistake. 

One brother Fox, a butcher by trade, once came to 
the young pastor in serious concern over the question 
of cutting his nails on Sunday. He said that the pre- 
ceeding pastor had told him it was a sin, and that it 
could not be excused on the plea of its being '* a work 
either of mercy or necessity." 




'I'HKJtlDGE BKOUGHT HIS KIERV STEEDS TO A STANDSTILL SO SlDDENLY AS 
ALMOST T0TAKE|THEM OFF THEIR FEET." 

[See page 071 



A SUMMER DRIVE. 
CHAPTER XXIV. 

OUR horse Oscar had taken cold coming down the 
Hudson river. He was quite under the weather. 
A noted farrier kindly recommended for him a prepara- 
tion of aconite root. The druggist to whom we ap- 
plied refused to deliver the medicine until our doctor 
presented him her professional card and prescription 
papers. She commended his caution, but wondered 
if he would have been as careful if we had asked for 
strychnine, fusil oil and alcohol in the form of 
whisky. 

Over the smooth red sandstone road, and with the 
beautiful Blue Ridge on our right, we drove through 
Cranford, Westfield and fashionable Netherwood, to 
spend the night at Plainfield in the City hotel. 

The cars of the Central railroad of New Jersey went 
thundering by every few minutes so near to our apart- 
ments as to shake the beds. Besides this, there were 
loafers in the bar-room talking loudly till past mid- 
night ; and there was not the slightest means of de- 
fense against mosquitoes. The night was hot, and 
what with fighting them, and the noise of the trains 
and others, we slept but little. A very provoking 
thing about it was we had come about ten miles out 
of our way to be treated so badly. (253) 



254 ''■'HE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

Our host at Elizabeth had evidently wished to send j 
guests to his father's hotel at Plainfield ; and so in 
directing our route failed to do as he would have been 
done by. He certainly took the stranger in, when 
he sent us out towards Plainfield. 

Our parson, however, is of that glorious tempera- 
ment which finds some blessing in every adversity. 
He said it was not likely we should ever have had so 
good an opportunity of visiting the scene of some of 
his earliest labors, trials and experiences. 

In the itinerancy of Methodism it had been his lot 
to spend the year 1844 in charge of the Plainfield 
church. The salary was then so small and the ex- 
penses of a family so great, that he had to borrow 
twenty-five dollars with which to move away to his 
next appointment. 

The old parishioners are mostly under the sod ; but 
a grand church has been erected, and the minister's 
remuneration is increased at least four-fold, so un- 
doubtedly are likewise the expenses. 

The richest man in that congregation was a tailor 
who employed a great many girls. About thirty of 
these belonged to the church. They clubbed together 
at Christmas, each contributing one dollar, bought 
material and made a handsome cloak for their young 
pastor. The present was spoiled for his pleasure, 
however, by the garment having no cape. Not 
venturing " to look the gift horse in the mouth," he 
never told them of this lack to his comfort ; or they 
could, no doubt, have readily made the coveted addi- 
tion. As it was, he felt obliged to wear it, and 
bravely accepted it as a cross that he must take up. 

At a rich member's house where he was invited to 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 255 

remain till the parsonage was put in order, there was 
a family of children and a housekeeper, but no lady 
of the establishment appeared. The gentleman was 
not known to be a widower ; yet no mention was 
made of his wife. There was an air of mystery like 
a dark pall. It was finally discovered that the wife 
was a maniac, and was confined in a distant part of 
tlie house, where no one was allowed to see her. 
There she died, and thence she was buried with no 
investigation, and but little ceremony. Subsequent 
developments led to the conclusion that there had 
been foul play, and that the sanctimonious husban<^ 
was a very bad man. 

Our parson told us of another man whom he knew 
there who was very ambitious to join the M. E. 
conference. He had eight children and a nice plump 
wife. The conference refused his application on the 
ground that the churches were mostly poor and could 
easier support single men than those with families. 
One day he confidingly told our parson he thought 
the Lord was about to remove the obstacle to his en- 
tering the ministry. His wife was very sick, and if 
she died, he could give away the children. 

From Plainfield we set out early, hoping to reach 
Trenton before night. We drove first towards Bound 
Brook. 

The judge had some reminisences to tell of the first 
railroad between Philadelphia and New York. He 
well remembered when the rails were simply bars of 
iron nailed to strips of wood. When an end was seen 
to lie up loosely the conductor was expected to stop 
the train, and go forward with a hammer in hand and 
drive in the spike. 



256 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

We passed over the old tramping ground of two 
" circuit preachers " whom our parson had known in 
his youth. One was named George Banghart and 
the other Manning Force. The folks used to say that 
George banged at their hearts, and Manning forced 
them into the church. 

There were plenty guide-boards along the roads, 
but the inscriptions were fading out, "like the 
theology of this Dutch Reform region," the parson 
said. 

The favorite direction given by those we met was, 
" Straight ahead, sir." 

Often in following out this formula, we would come 
straight up against the fence of a field of some kind ; 
and the road would turn at right angles in two direc- 
tions ; and nobody in sight to tell us which oue to 
take ; and the old guide-board so faded, we could not 
read it even with magnifying glasses. It was very 
provoking. At such times when the doctor felt like 
fretting at " Horrible Jersey," the judge would say, 
" Keep your patience, Sallie." 

This expression referred to a story of a woman who 
suflfered from colic. A good Quaker preacher called 
in to comfort her. As the spasms of pain would 
come on, and her features would wTithe with agony, the 
sympathetic Christian brother would serenely say, in 
soothing tone, '* Keep your patience, Sallie, everlast- 
ing patience, Sallie." 

At Bound Brook we made a halt, and seriously 
undertook the job of finding out the best way to reach 
Trenton. 

The first resident we asked plainly told us he did 
not know. If he were going, he should buy a ticket, 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 257 

and the conductor would tell him when to leave the 
train. 

There stood the cars at the pretty little depot, with 
the locomotive letting off steam and seemingly in 
haste to start. For a moment we almost wished we 
could take that convenient way of getting over the 
ground without the trouble of real travel. 

By this time a half dozen Jerseymen were gathered 
about us. They all talked at once, and no two 
agreed on any one route. 

Our parson said they were like a set of ministers 
of different denominations, each insisting his way to 
Heaven was best. 

We finally decided to go through Middlebush, Lit- 
tle Rock Hill and Kingston. The day was fine, al- 
though a little too warm and dry. There was a great 
scarcity of water, and the only refreshment we could 
procure at the farm houses was buttermilk. 

Aside from the effects of the drouth, the county of 
Somerset through which we drove that morning, was 
very fertile and although a little flat, was beautiful. 
We traveled through the interior of the state and were 
in plain sight of New Brunswick though five miles 
away. In New Hampshire and Vermont we could 
often see our road for miles as it was lifted over the 
high hills ; and here in Jersey we could see it straight 
and hard and red, lying on the level plain. 

At Kingston, on the Millstone river, which forms 
the boundary line between Somerset and Middlesex 
counties, we stopped for dinner. 

The hotel was a tumble-down affair that had re- 
cently come into the hands of a young Frenchman. 
He had begun some needed repairs ; but the surround- 



258 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

ings and the outbuildings were still in a shockingly 
unsanitary condition that readily accounted for the 
landlord being down sick with malaria. 

We happened there in the midst of a great murder 
excitement. Both parties of the tragedy had been 
on a protracted spree. They were husband and 
wife. 

"How often a woman goes to the matrimonial 
altar with the man who is to be her murderer ! " ex- 
claimed the doctor. "The murder is not always 
publicly known ; it is nevertheless just as really a 
murder." 

" In this case," said the housekeeper, to whom the 
doctor was talking, "the woman killed her husband ; 
but I suppose turn about is fair play, he had often 
tried to kill her. I think," she continued, "the 
fault was largely in the liquor they used ; for when I 
was a girl, they made in these parts ten quarts of 
whisky from one bushel of wheat. And now from 
the same quantity of wheat, they make by the help 
of strychnine and other maddening things, sixteen 
gallons of stuff." 

The dreadful deed did not stop the drinking. The 
parlor in which we sat was adjoining the bar-room, 
and there black and white were carousing in broad 
daylight. 

We left in disgust, feeling we had had an undesired 
glimpse into Pandemonium. 

" If woman did teach man to eat, he took to drink 
himself." 

Crossing the Millstone river we entered Mercer 
county, and drove to Princeton, the seat of the great 
New Jersey college and Theological seminary. 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 259 

" O'er Princeton's sands the far reflections steal, 
Where mighty Edwards stamped his iron heel, 
Yea, on the hill there old beliefs are found, 
Fast as if Styx had girt them nine times around." 

The town is pleasantly situated on a ridge com- 
manding a fine prospect. 

The buildings are commodious and attractive. The 
students crossing the campus, or loitering under the 
shade trees, looked proud and happy. The doctor 
could not go by without inveighing against the in- 
justice which excludes one-half our people from the 
enjoyment of these exalted educational privileges. 

Tennyson says, 

"The woman's cause is man's. 
They rise or sink together. 
Dwarfed or God-like, bond or free." 

From Princeton we drove on ten miles further in a 
south-westerly direction, ''Rolling on through dust 
to the destiny " that awaited us in the wake of the 
democratic convention which nominated Green at 
Trenton. 

We passed through a region abounding in Revolu- 
tionary associations. The Assanpink creek is still 
shaded by willow trees, which suggested to the 
Indians its name. Here Washington fought one of 
his battles with the British, and the creek, it is said, 
ran red with blood. 

The Democrats had just broken camp when at 6 
P. M. we reached the American House in the Capital 
of New Jersey. 

The stairs were so covered with their mud, the car- 
pet was invisible. A colored man was actually dig- 
ging it out with a small shovel. 



36o THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

The mosquitoes were numerous. Fearing another 
restless night we asked for a canopy. Not one was to 
be had ; but the housekeeper kindly oflfered to impro- 
vise one for our benefit. This she did in so ingenious 
a way that we detail it for the relief of those who 
may sometime find themselves in a similar strait. 

Taking a piece of clothes-line she fastened one end 
to the right-hand corner of the high head-board, 
crossed it to the right-hand corner of the foot-board, 
then diagonally to the left-hand corner of the head, 
down again, this time to left corner of foot-board, and 
once more diagonally up to the starting point. Over 
this frame she threw several yards of netting that fell 
in fleecy masses to the floor, thus forming a perfect 
protection from the little pests. 

In the morning we awoke to find a very agreeable 
change of temperature had occurred. 

We wished very much to visit the potteries and 
large manufactories of stone and delft ware, for which 
this place is noted, but the rest of our party began to 
feel forcible drawings toward home. We saw the 
State House, the Arsenal, the Lunatic Asylum and 
Penitentiary, only in passing. A cold rain had come 
on when we crossed the long bridge over the Dela- 
ware river. 

We had left Jersey, and the first point which we 
made in Pennsylvania was Fallsington Friends' 
meeting house, seven miles above Bristol. 

We were in Bucks county, one of the most produc- 
tive and beautiful of all the eastern countries. 

Our next point was Emilie, still in the direction of 
Bristol. A nice looking party of drab-dressed people 
in a carriage kindly offered to lead the way so far. 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. a6l 

They then directed us to the state road, which we 
found a very good road for many miles. 

After crossing the lovely Neshaminy we came to 
the House of Correction. Groups of inen were out in 
the fields and gardens at work in a uniform that sug- 
gested bumble-bees. 

Actually adjoining the grounds of this reformatory 
institution were drinking saloons. 

What a wonder our government should license 
such places to do the work that makes prison places 
necessary ! 

" In the year," said our parson, " when one of our 
United States took a half million of dollars revenue 
for allowing the sale of strong drink, in that very 
year the Queen of Madagascar wrote in her proclama- 
tion, ' I cannot consent as your queen, to take a 
single cent of revenue from that which destroys the 
souls and bodies of my subjects.' " 

Twice that morning of September 29th the guide- 
boards informed us we were within eight miles of 
Newton, its Enterprise, and its enterprising people. 

We felt the strong attraction, yet continued on our 
way towards Philadelphia, partly I think because our 
horses would come. 

"I do think," said the judge, *' horses have a great 
deal of sense. They know a great deal more than 
some folks suppose. Do you recollect," he asked the 
doctor, * ' when we were leaving Saratoga how Lex 
and Oscar struck into their regular traveling jog, 
when only the day before they had sported as trotting 
horses of magnificent leisure? To-day just see how 
they hurry on. They know they are nearing home 
just as well as we do." 



262 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

We came through Tacony. We got hopelessly 
mixed up at Frankford, and inquired the way of a 
grocery man who was standing in his store door. 

"Do you want horse-cars or dummy?" he asked. 

The judge looked significantly at our big Kentucky 
horses, and without deigning any reply drove on. 

The next person of whom we could conveniently 
ask the way was an Irishman driving a cart. He 
said "he didn't rightly know — always went to town 
by rail, which isn't often sir, at all." 

Finally some one told us the way to Nicetown lane, 
from there we got into Germantown avenue, and a 
short cut through Rising Sun took us to Broad street, 
and brought us back at noon, hungry and chilly and 
tired, to 1707 Oxford street, after an absence of nearly 
two months. 

At a moderate calculation, Lex and Oscar with all 
our party, had traveled by flood and field about 
fifteen hundred miles. 

As a result of our summer drive, the parson, the 
judge, and the lawyer, entirely escaped hay-fever. 
The doctor and your reporter gained ten pounds, and 
the horses came back better than they went away. 

THE END OF THE SUMMER DRIVE. 



THE ROUND TRIP. 
CHAPTER XXV. 

IT was 8 o'clock A. M., June 30th, when with the 
traveling party of other years, Lex and Oscar in- 
cluded, we drove upon the wharf at the foot of Race 
street. 

The horses were soon unharnessed and led on board 
the boat Edwin Forrest, bound for Trenton. Strong 
hands dragged the carriage which was loaded with 
ever\' conceivable convenience for the road, to a shel- 
tered spot on the lower deck. 

The negro stewardess was strangely fair, with au- 
burn woolly hair. She was nice and pleasant, and 
made it very comfortable for the ladies in her cabin. 

A little girl with a doll, which we mistook for a 
real live baby, until after considerable maneuvering 
we managed to see its waxen face, sat in the stew- 
ardess' biggest rocking-chair. The little girl was 
making the journey to Penn's Manor alone. It was 
amusing to see the womanly airs she put on, and the 
motherly way in which she tended and petted, praised 
and .scolded her make-believe child. 

At Riverton a drove of cattle were taken on board. 
There were so many, they crowded each other fear- 
fully. One poor little calf was so pushed to the wall 
that he tumbled overboard. Then there was a rush 
of the deck-hands to the rescue. A darkey sprang 

into the water, and seizing the struggling creature by 

^63) 



264 THE WEST- BROOK DRIVES. 

the hind legs dragged him on deck again. The cows 
lowed and moaned, the little calves panted and groaned 
in the hot sunshine, while the male portion of the 
drove, bellowed like veritable bulls of Bashau. 

At the sound of such commotion, the little girl with 
the big doll ran out upon the deck hushing and 
soothing the insensible baby. 

'* Don't be frighted my darling, nobody shall 
hurt you," she said. 

We watched her fond caresses with great interest, 
speculating upon the effect this premature develop- 
ment of the organ of philoprogenitiveness might have 
on the little maiden's future life. 

Fairy lore has, in this age, gone almost out of 
fashion. The children of to-day live in an ideal world 
quite as much as did those of former times ; but their 
new ideal world is quite different. They attribute life 
and soul to inanimate objects, and endow the lowest 
animals with intelligence and reasoning faculties. 
*' Alice in Wonderland " is a fair sample of the new 
style of juvenile literature. 

Is this tendency the origin of the idea that every- 
thing is alive, and that God is in everything as well 
as over all things? 

It was high noon when we reached Trenton. Lex 
and Oscar came off the boat like old stagers. We 
drove quickly to the American House for dinner, as 
we were all very hungry. 

Trenton with its historic and revolutionary associa- 
tions, its state institutions and libraries, its factories 
and its foundries, would have interested and detained 
us a long time, but the judge was in haste to drive on. 

So leaving Trenton at 3 P. M., while the sun was 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 265 

still high in the heavens, and the road was hot and 
dry and sandy, we hurried on towards Hightstown. 
We went out through State street, passing elegant, 
cool-looking residences ; then by the turnpike road 
on through Mercerville, Hamilton Square, New- 
ton and Windsor, always with the breeze at our backs 
and carrying the dust we raised along with us. 

A gentleman and his son, from Philadelphia, whose 
acquaintance we had made at the hotel, were driving 
in our direction to spend the summer at Asbury Park. 
They were pleasant company, especially as they po- 
litely kept in the background, and graciously took 
our dust. They were driving a single horse, and were 
much more lightly loaded than we were. They might 
easily have taken the lead, but would not. The boy 
tried to imagine we were a caravan crossing the Great 
Sahara. 

Before night-fall we were snugly ensconsed at 
Lantz's hotel, through one corner of which the Cam- 
den and Amboy railroad ran. 

Sitting on the cooped piazza, with the long trains 
thundering by, the old-time parson with the new time 
ideas, indulged in reminiscences of the great men of 
the former generation whom he had met on the Cam- 
den and Amboy, once the fashionable route between 
Washington and New York. 

Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, 
President Tyler, Tom Benton, and many other promi- 
nent politicians, and their gay ladies, would make a 
frolic of the trip, ending with a grand supper on the 
boat from Amboy. 

The proprietor of the Lantz hotel boasted of having 
entertained Jamison's party, and a Governor or two. 



266 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

recently, while on a pilgrimage similar to ours through 
New Jersey. 

This led us to expect much better accommodations 
than we found. The barn was the best part of the 
establishment, and we went out to congratulate the 
horses. We astonished the hostler, who was grooming 
Oscar, by making the horse shake hands and nod and 
neigh when we spoke to him. 

The only view our little "7x9" third-stor>' bed- 
room commanded was of the long railroad bridge and 
the moving trains. If we had remained at home, and 
'slept in our servant's room, we might have been much 
more confortable, but had less fun. 

It seemed no hardship to arise at 5 o'clock next 
morning and leave such rock-like pillows. 

At 6 P. M. we were on our way through lines of 
chestnut trees in full bloom. We passed acres of peas, 
corn and tomatoes, enough, one would think, to feed 
all creation. Extensive peach orchards, fair with 
promise for the coming autumn, made us almost wish 
we lived in New Jersey. 

That country cousin of the rose, the sweet-briar, 
made the cool morning air fragrant ; while the dew- 
drops glittered in the sunshine, and everything seemed 
crisp and fresh. 

Thus we drove for miles over a smooth road, with 
not a stone big enough to throw at a bird. 

The discovery of the green sand marl, with its pres- 
ence of phosphate of lime and potash, has made Mon- 
mouth county rich. The cash value of its farms 
counts up into the millions. 

The cultivation of the smaller fruits, such as black- 
berries and raspberries, forms one of the great indus- 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 267 

tries here. A large number of men, women and 
children of the semi-vagabond class were employed at 
the time we passed, picking and packing the berries 
for transportation to the cities. 

A very exasperating thing was that, although we 
were traveling through a part of the country where 
these luscious fruits abounded, not a single specimen, 
by any chance or design, appeared upon the tables 
where we breakfasted, dined or supped. 

Stale preserves and stewed dried apples were all we 
had. Country people think they are going to swift 
financial destruction if you drink a glass of their 
cream, or eat an egg. There are such rich possibilities 
in these things ! a pat of butter, or a chicken that 
might have been. 

We went by the old Tennent church, where William 
Tenneut preached forty-four years, and from which he 
was buried the next year after our Declaration of In- 
dependence was published. He belonged to the Whit- 
field school of revivalists. He was a most spiritually 
minded man. It is said he would spend hours alone 
in the woods, and return to his pulpit in an almost 
unconscious dazed condition. Some one would help 
him to ascend the steps, and then he would give utter- 
aH.ce to the most eloquent and soul-stirring words. 
He was once three days in a trance, and when he re- 
covered related extraordinary visions of heaven, and 
of glories unutterable. 

At 9:30 that bright warm morning of July ist, we 
stopped at the sign of the Colt's Neck. The artist 
who painted it had not bceu true to nature, but we 
obtained a very refreshing draught of pure milk there, 
and went on our way rejoicing. 



268 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

The fields were all white and ready for the harvest, 
as our parson remarked ; and we all noticed that the 
laborers were few. For every man that worked, there 
were generally several idly standing watching him. 

As we entered Long Branch the breeze that had been 
at our backs all the way suddenly blew in our faces, 
directly from the south, over the cool summer sea. 

We reached Brighton hotel almost in a chill at noon. 
During the rest of the month of July, so terribly hot 
in Pennsylvania, we hardly knew what it was to be 
uncomfortably warm. 

The next morning, Saturday, we took a long drive 
to Sea Bright, passing miles on miles of elegant resi- 
dences ; then returning went to Elberon. We saw G. 
W. Childs' place and beside that the one which Gen. 
Grant had owned. Then we drove to the cottage 
where Garfield had died. 

*' Prayer did not save him," spoke the parson, as if 
thinking aloud. 

"How could it," answered the doctor, "with a 
bullet in such a fatal lodgement? " 

Very much impressed with the beauty of what has 
been called our summer capital — this city by the sea 
— we returned to our hotel, only to be told we had not 
seen the half of its magnificent extent. 

The numerous and beautiful drives about Long 
Branch became a perpetual marvel and a constant sur- 
prise to us. 

Saturday noon, July 2d, the flying flags indicated 
that old ocean was in the proper state of temper to re- 
ceive his friends. We selected bath houses for the 
season and arrayed ourselves in blue flannel robes, 
black hose, and red rubber caps. In this guise we 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 369 

went to his embrace. There was method in the mad- 
ness of his caress. First there canje a gentle swell, in 
fact, two or three in slow succession ; then a rushing 
and mighty wave, with roar, and break, and foam, 
that would have frightened votaries less fond aud 
brave. 

Monday morning, July 4th, we celebrated the day 
by a two-hours-long horse-back ride on Lex and 
Oscar. The latter was just in the humor to show oflf 
his fine training, and when we returned he went 
through all his fancy steps in front of the hotel. 
When the people applauded he took the compliment 
all to himself, and voluntarily repeated the perform- 
ance. 

The height of our rooms, on the third floor, had the 
effect to shut out all the intervening ground and make 
it appear as if we were on the water ; as if we were 
really " Out on the ocean sailing." 

On the 5th of July there was a big storm. The 
weather was cold, windy and rainy. The Atlantic 
looked as though it was going to boil over. The old 
house swayed gently in the tempest, and we went to 
sleep feeling that we were being indeed " Rocked in 
the cradle of the deep." 

In driving towards Pleasure Bay one day we crossed 
a long bridge without noticing that it was a draw- 
bridge. In returning we were so much occupied with 
the scenery and with each other, that we were within 
twenty feet of the open draw before we discovered it. 
The space was so narrow it was impossible to turn the 
carriage around, and so we were obliged to wait there 
while a couple of vessels, their white wings fluttering, 
their sails flapping in the stiff breeze, floated across our 



270 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

path. The horses looked on in wonder and awe, but 
behaved admirably, being frequently quieted and en- 
couraged by a word from the judge. 

When we were safely over, and the lady doctor be- 
gan to breathe freely once more, the judge discovered 
that the careless hostler had twisted the reins ; so we 
stopped by the roadside, and while your reporter, with 
blistering hands and burning face, pulled grass to 
keep the horses quiet, the fastidious judge almost un- 
harnessed them and fixed things right again. 




" Takk a i.itti.k Rim. 'I'hk i.kss yoi iakkthk i;kttkk 
[See page 141] 



THE ROUND TRIP. 
CHAPTER XXVI. 

LONG BRANCH is certainly the garden spot of 
this part of the coast. It seems to us that never 
before was such lovely and luxurious vegetation so 
near the sea. We are informed by one of the old 
residents that although it seems like nature it is really 
the work of art ; even the soil is manufactured at so 
much the square foot. The actual cost of some of 
these elegant lawns seems incredible. It is not many 
years since these roads, now almost as hard and 
smooth as a floor, were beds of sand into which wheels 
sank half way to the hubs. Immense amounts of 
money have been spent here. The outlay has brought 
prosperity to the workman, and pleasure and happi- 
ness to all. 

" Your breakfast hour is the only one that will not 
suit us," the parson had told our landlord when we 
learned that it was at half-past eight o'clock. 

"Seven is our breakfast hour in town the year 
round," he added. But mark how quickly one falls 
into bad habits ! We were soon late to that late 
breakfast ; it was so pleasant those comfortable morn- 
ings to take a little more sleep, a little more folding of 
the hands to sleep. Sometimes, however, we coura- 
geously arose "at five o'clock in the morning," and 

drove or rode many miles before breakfast time. 

(271) 



272 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

Through Sea Bright, over the draw-bridge, out ou 
the famous Rumson road, passing magnificent country 
residences, was one of our favorite drives. 

Many New York business men lead a sort of dual 
life. While they are, to all intents and purposes New 
Yorkers, their families are regular Jerseyites. 

Our hotel was so small, containing only about two 
hundred souls, that everybody soon came to know 
everybody. 

The pet of the house was the little Colamore girl 
of four years. She loved her black ' ' mammie ' ' more 
than she did her own mother. The attachment was 
something very remarkable. Once the parents had 
tried to break the influence that bound child and 
' 'mammie" together. They engaged a new nurse, and 
sent the old one away ; but baby Colamore pined and 
wasted till the fond father was frightened, and sought 
the "mammie" everywhere. One day going down 
Broadway the drooping baby gave a scream of delight 
pointing to her old nurse in an omnibus. The recog- 
nition was mutual. The * ' mammie " sprang out and 
clasping her darling in her arms, they made a com- 
pact to stay together until her young lady should be 
old enough to marry. 

It was amazing to see how rapidly the little one 
recovered her health. 

Our telegraph operator was a pretty young woman. 
Her modest manners, and her youth, were no protec- 
tion from the insulting attention of some of the men 
who were certainly old enough to know better. 

The fact is that one meets very few men at these 
public places whose behavior he can admire, or whose 
character he can respect. 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 273 

Do the best men stay at home ? Those of our party 
were certainly an exception to that rule. 

Nearly an equal number of both sexes were regis- 
tered on the books ; yet when the hour for dancing 
came not a corporal's guard of gentlemen would 
appear in the parlor. Where were they ? They were 
lounging and smoking on the piazza, in lawn tennis 
suits, in base ball, or in the bicyclers' uniform, or 
else at the billiard table, or worse than all, loitering 
in the bar-room. 

Pleasure resorts seem to be beset with temptations 
to the men and boys. It is almost the rarest thing in 
the world to see a man resist a temptation. With 
the mothers, wives and sweethearts away they are not 
safe at home. It has become a serious question what 
to do with the male portion of the family when the 
other portion find change and rest and recreation a 
necessity. 

It is the old puzzle of the fox and the goose and 
the corn ; how to get them safely over the river, how 
to bring the men and boys through the perils of sum- 
mer without tarnished name and morals. 

" We will let our tired steeds rest on this Sabbath 
day," said the parson, "while we wend our way to 
the church on foot, or perhaps patronize one of these 
public wagons. The charge is a mere trifle, and we 
ought to encourage business and enterprise." 

In accordance with this view of the parson's, which 
like all his opinions we felt bound to respect, we 
crowded into one of the omnibuses, resolved on at- 
tending divine worship at the Taylor Memorial 
church. This is a sort of spiritual mausoleum 
erected by the disconsolate widow to the memory of 



274 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

her distinguished husband. Handsomely dressed 
people were already alighting from elegant carriages 
when our democratic turnout turned in at the gate. 
"The happy gate of gospel grace." 

The splendid choir sang splendidly. Governor 
Bedle and his family had seats in front of us. The 
minister preached from the text, "They were dis- 
couraged by the way. ' ' We had not been discouraged 
by the way, nor by anything else. We had come 
with alacrity and delight. The cool morning breeze 
had faced us all the way, and we had left care and 
our horses behind. We were discouraged, however, 
at that minister's attempt to make an interesting 
essay out of that subject. When we saw he was go- 
ing to make a dead failure of it, and we had satisfied 
our curiosity by taking an inventory of all the pretty 
faces and costumes, we deliberately went to sleep and 
only awoke when the final hymn was given out. 

The judge declared that our parson could have been 
aroused at midnight, and in his robe de nuit, without 
preparation, have preached a better sermon. 

The Long Branch omnibuses all look so much 
alike it was with some diflSculty that we discovered 
our waiting Jehu. He drove us home very quickly ; 
and charged us just three times the regular price be- 
cause we had not made a special bargain with him. 

"Don't blame the poor fellow," said the good- 
natured judge. " He must make hay while the sun 
shines. The season is short, you know, and ' the 
winter of his discontent ' so long." 

At the hotel Brighton our lady doctor was charmed 
with making the acquaintance of Dr. Simon Baruch, 
the distinguished physician and author of certain 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 275 

valuable medical papers. How much more interest- 
ing a learned treatise becomes when you can converse 
with its writer ! 

The accomplished wife of our host had been abroad 
several times. In one of her voyages she had met 
the parvenu actress, Mrs. James Brown Potter, and 
was told by Mrs. Potter the story of her first interview 
with the Prince of Wales. It was at a state ball under 
these circumstances : — Two young American ladies 
had received invitations, but could not go without a 
chaperone. They ofiered Mrs. Potter twenty-five 
dollars to act in that capacity. The three ladies were 
almost entire strangers in the gay assembly, and the 
festivities seemed dull enough to them. At last one 
of the young ladies became very weary and proposed 
leaving. 

Just then it happened the Prince of Wales' eye 
lighted on Mrs. Potter. He requested a special in- 
troduction, and then invited her to dance. From 
that moment until four o'clock in the morning he 
never left her side. It would have been a serious 
violation of court etiquette for her to leave him, so 
the two tired maidens had to mope and wait until his 
Highness should be pleased to release their chaperone 
and allow them all to depart in peace. 

How ridiculous it seems to us Republicans that this 
attention from the son of a queen should have made 
Mrs. Potter a favorite, and the fashion in London. 

The ocean, as seen from our windows or balcony, 
"our upper deck," as we call our piazza, was always 
charming. In a storm it often looked like a huge 
cauldron just boiling over. It was always grand. It 
was never *'a tempest in a tea-pot." Of all the 



276 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

nights, those of the full moon were the most enchant- 
ing. The brilliant water looked then like a great 
path-way to glory. 

The beautiful drives about Long Branch seemed 
almost endless. One lovely morning early in July we 
drove Lex and Oscar out to Sea Bright, thence to 
Shrewsbury river, and across the bridge to Navesink 
Highlands, where once upon a time, our Philadelphia 
Social Lyceum had its annual excursion. We recalled 
with interest the events of that day, the delicious 
dinner in the rambling old hotel, the darkened parlor, 
where the sick man, one of our fellow excursionists, 
lay while we attended him ; the walk to the light- 
house after we had eased our patient's pain ; the two 
buxom widows who pretended they could not get 
down the steep hill without the gallant judge's assist- 
ance, the rickety old wharf whence one of the widows 
essayed to tumble into the water, just to see if an 
ardent admirer of hers would jump in to save her 
precious life ; but finding here the limit of his roman- 
tic attachment, she wisely desisted from her fell 
purpose. 

Leaving Navesink, so full of interesting reminis- 
ences, we drove on through lovely woods two and a 
half miles to Atlantic Highlands. There we found 
ourselves on the beautiful New York bay. Long 
Island, Sandy Hook and Staten Island were plainly 
seen in the distance. 

With considerable difficulty we succeeded in water- 
ing our horses at Atlantic Highlands ; and we found 
refreshment for ourselves in some bottles of birch beer. 

The drive back through the cool woods was so 
pleasant we wished it were longer. We reached the 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 2/7 

Navesink bridge just in time to escape the opening of 
the draw to let the New York excursion boat, the Sea 
Bird, through. Everywhere on the water that morn- 
ing there were numerous white winged vessels at 
anchor ; and on the shore were many " men mending 
their nets, for they were fishermen, ' ' quoted our par- 
son. 

The true test of a man's advancement in civiliza- 
tion and refinement is the manner in which he treats 
his wife in public. It was intensely interesting at the 
hotel Brighton to mark the differences in this respect. 
Some wives were so neglected and so unhappy ; while 
some were so honored, and seemed to be almost 
adored by their husbands. The latter we know to be, 
in some cases, only a successful attempt at keeping up 
appearances ; but it was really so much better than 
open and evident disrespect and indifierence. So long 
as a woman thinks that other people regard her as a 
happy wife, she will endure a great amount of private 
misery without complaint. 

There was one professional gentleman who was a 
perfect Lothario among the ladies, and yet ignored 
his own wife shamefully. She was plump, and fair, 
and forty ; and if she had been some other man's wife 
no doubt he would have admired her exceedingly. 
She confessed to our lady doctor that she often wished 
she had married another man who, although less 
demonstrative in youth, would, she fully believed 
have proved himself a devoted life-long lover. 

This is really what a true woman wants, to love, 
and to be more loved as the years go by. 

One elderly man, with a young pretty wife, used to 
leave her to her own devices for hours, while he 



278 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

played billiards till midnight. If she flirted, who 
could blame her ? That would have made him furi- 
ous if he had found it out. 

The husband of a lady who was subject to sick 
headaches, used to tell her to lie down and take a nap 
and he guessed she'd get over it ; then he would go 
down to the parlor and dance and romp with the 
prettiest g^rls he coi\ld find, leaving her in distress 
and darkness and desolation. Once or twice it hap- 
pened that he was a little sick, and then, if she left 
the room for a single moment, he was terribly ag- 
grieved. 

One lovely young matron, the mother of two hand- 
some little boys, and whose husband remained in 
town to attend to business, came to visit her semi- 
weekly, was observed on these occasions to be invari- 
ably sad and nervous. The cause of this sadness 
appeared some months later, when all the world knew 
him as a confirmed maniac. 

The one man whom each woman told her husband 
she wished he was like in this or that respect, but 
especially in his attention and devotion to his wife, 
the one man in all that company so honorably dis- 
tinguished was our "judge." 

If he had been a widower half the women would 
have wanted him. 

Speaking of his wife the judge was sometimes 
heard to quote from Proverbs : 

"The heart of her husband doth safely trust in 
her ; he hath no need of spoil." 



THE ROUND TRIP. 
CHAPTER XXVII. 

ON the 13th of July, after an unusually warm day, 
a curious and beautiful phenomenon appeared. 
At sunset the whole sea became pink like the heart 
of a shell. We ordered Lex and Oscar saddled, and 
rode in that lovely light, literally through couleur de 
rose, to Elberon and back. 

In Providence, R. I. , it is said there are more dol- 
lars per capita than in any other part of our country. 
In Long Branch there are certainly more horses per 
capita. We heard of several families who had a dozen 
and more apiece. " They might as well keep a livery 
stable and be done with it," said the judge, who re- 
garded his spanking pair sufficient for all practical 
purposes. 

The horse Oscar was always amiable, and was 
happy and proud to do anything which the lady doctor 
desired. He was not quite so pliable with the men, 
and refused absolutely to take his easiest gaits with 
them upon his back. The lady had herself taught 
him to pace, and he would do that with nobody else. 
Lex had his moods in the saddle, and could be very 
contrary and provoking there, although famous for 
his correct deportment in harness. At such times the 
usually genial judge would lose his temper, and in- 
variably blame the lady doctor for her lack of horse- 
manship. (279) 



28o THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

The family history records that the first word the 
judge ever uttered was " colt ; " and he has been on 
horse back almost from his babyhood. He rode like 
a centaur, and seemed a part of his horse, except when 
Lex got into one of his tantrums. 

The lady doctor, with an ancestry famous for good 
riders, had been taught in the best schools of New 
York and Philadelphia. In certain states of mind the 
judge would denounce the methods of all these train- 
ers, and insist upon her dropping them and adopting 
his method. With singular firmness, not to say 
obstinacy, the lady doctor persisted in her own way ; 
but graciously and constantly declared she had rather 
ride with the judge, and have him scold her, than to 
ride with any other person she ever knew. 

One day there came a test that was quite unex- 
pected, and might have resulted in serious injury. 
The lady doctor, although riding always with long 
reins, kept her horse well in hand, neither giving nor 
taking an inch. The judge, with a self-confidence 
that was almost conceit, was trotting along in his own 
peculiar fashion. Suddenly there appeared at a little 
distance an idiot boy, standing in the middle of the 
narrow road with arms akimbo ; a large yellow dog 
sprang out with a yelp, and a woman with a red shawl 
and a baby emerged into sight. 

Probably the horses could have borne undismayed 
either one of these exhibitions, but taking all three 
together it was too much. They both shied and 
plunged. The judge's horse reared and threw back 
his head, striking him full in the face. The lady 
doctor succeeded in stopping Oscar a little way in ad- 
vance, and looking back saw the judge, half stunned, 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 28l 

reeling in his saddle and blood streaming from his 
nose. His hat had fallen to the ground, and both 
knew if he attempted to dismount and recover it, he 
would not have strength to mount again. The idiot 
boy had run away, and the woman, thoroughly scared, 
did not dare approach near enough to pick it up. To 
go home bare headed would be too undignified ; be- 
sides the hat was a new one, and the judge did not 
like to leave it ; so in the sternest tones he could 
command he said to the woman : 

"Hand me my hat. Madam." 

"I'm afraid," she murmured. 

*' Afraid," he repeated scornfully. " Hand it here 
or I'll have you arrested for squatting around here in 
the bushes where you have no business. ' ' 

Thus conjured and threatened, she ventured near 
enough to the fiery steed to comply. 

The lady doctor, although thoroughly frightened 
and very apprehensive in relation to the judge's bat- 
tered condition, could hardly help reiterating, "This 
all comes from your not knowing how to manage your 
horse," but she wisely forebore, and when they 
reached the house tenderly treated the blackened eye 
and swollen cheeks, without a word save of sweetest 
sympathy. 

Salt-water bathing at the Brighton was with us a 
great luxury which we indulged in daily, but only 
for a few, often, five minutes at a time. In this way 
we secured, so our doctor told us, the full tonic effect. 

Bathing hour at Long Branch is always a movable 
feast, depending upon the condition of the tide. 
When it was right, the flag, the stars and stripes, was 
run up and floated out on the breeze. 



282 THE WKvST-BROOK DRIVES. 

Old ocean is no respecter of persons. It will tumble 
a bishop as readily as a tramp. Often our party were 
so upset, and so jumbled together by some sudden 
antic of the waves, it was quite impossible to tell 
where one title began and another left off. 

Some think the bathing there is far from safe. 
That is probably so ; and yet owing to the general im- 
pression that it is somewhat dangerous, and the extra 
precautions taken, there are seldom any serious acci- 
dents. 

Another general impression, which for a long time 
we regarded as a groundless superstition, is that the 
water is made filthy by its relation to the dumping 
grounds of New York. But one day, after a long 
north-east storm, when we found feathers, tin cans 
and chicken heads floating about us, we believed and 
trembled. 

The principal fishing in sight of our window was 
done by fish-hawks. They are immense creatures, 
and the nests they build, usually in the top of dead 
cedar trees, look as large as a bushel basket. 

The idea seems to prevail among the simple country 
folks, that it is bad luck to destroy these nests, or to 
kill one of these birds. Year after year these curious 
structures remain, until they become, like ancient 
landmarks, dear to the hearts of the people. 

I have seen the parent fish-hawks returning from a 
successful voyage, bringing in their strong bills, a big 
fish, still alive, and struggling to get free. At the 
sight, the hungry young ones would open their mouths 
and clamor to be fed. 

One day we happened to be passing beneath one ot 
the nests when a clumsy young bird came tumbling 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 283 

and half fluttering to the ground. Looking up we 
saw more of the same kind, apparently being pushed 
over the edge of the nest. The parson, who had made 
a study of the habits of the fish-hawk in his youth, 
told us that when in the judgment of the parent birds, 
their progeny were able to provide for themselves, and 
did not do it, they pushed them out of the home nest. 
He said these feathered bipeds had more sense, in this 
respect, than many he knew who wore clothes. 

One of the most charming drives we found, was 
over the Ramson Road and along Pleasure Bay. 
There are so many elegant residences one cannot help 
but wonder where all the money comes from to sup- 
port them. It is saddening to reflect that such ele- 
gance does not ensure happiness. 

"Unless the kingdom of Heaven is within you," 
said the parson, "you will never get into it." 

Returning one day hungry we passed a grocery store 
kept by the firm of Cook & Kettle. ' ' They ought, ' ' 
said our judge, "to be able to furnish a good meal." 

How many home comforts one misses at a fashion- 
able hotel, or indeed at any kind of hotel ! The space 
into which they stow you is so limited that it requires 
profound study to know how to accommodate your- 
self and your belongings. Often the things you need 
most you have not got, and cannot get. One feels 
this lack most seriously in cases of sudden sickness. 

At midnight on the 15th day of July, in great dis- 
tress the judge called up the doctor. The case called 
for powerful stimulation. The doctor rang the bell. 
After minutes that seemed like hours the bell-boy 
appeared rubbing his sleepy eyes. The request for 
boiling hot water was received with a stupid stare. 



284 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

No hot water could be got from that kitchen, he 
said, before five or six o'clock next morning. 

Finally a miniature gas stove was pulled out from 
among the baggage, and — blessings on the man who 
invented gas stoves — the patient was soon relieved. 

In places where gas has not yet been introduced, or 
in case you are not able to supply your own gas, al- 
ways carry a Ristori alcohol lamp ; or what is still 
better, as we learned from a Boston family, Rechand 
Lang's Flamme Forcee. 

For the sake of ' ' Auld Lang Syne, ' ' we drove one 
fine afternoon to Branchtown and saw the old church 
where our parson preached forty years ago. We were 
glad to see the building looking well preserved, and 
even fresh with new white paint and modern orna- 
ments. 

We came to a place where the road, slightly de- 
scending, crosses the railroad at right angles. 

" This," said the parson, "is the scene of a some- 
what curious accident. Two men were racing fast 
horses. In descending this declivity the express train 
was approaching. Either on account of each man 
being so eager to win the race that they took no note 
of the warning whistle, or because of the great mo- 
mentum they had gained, they kept right on, till the 
foremost man and horses met their fate upon the 
track." 

The parson did not say so, but I have no doubt he 
made this sad story the text of many a severe tirade 
against the sin of horse-racing. 

*' It is always thus," said the judge, 

" We curse the sins we're not inclined to, 
While we cling to those we have a mind to." 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 285 

Returning through Elberon we met George Wash- 
ington Childs, of the Philadelphia Ledger. The 
judge slightly raised his hat and bowed. Child's 
face was round and red, his neck short and thick. His 
rotundity and pomposity would make a stranger mis- 
take him for an English lord, did not his clothes have 
always a semi-shabby look, as if in the first stages of 
decayed gentility. His home at Long Branch is one 
of the most beautiful, and has a charming individ- 
uality of its own which one would never suspect so 
graceless an owner could give it. 

** I am often mortified," remarked one of our party, 
**when abroad, to confess that I come from a city 
where G. W. Childs, Tony Drexel and John Wana- 
maker, are the principal inhabitants. ' ' 

*' It is natural, but not very nice, to make sarcastic 
remarks about prominent people," said our parson, 
with a reproving glance. 

The 17th of July became so suddenly hot that we 
sought refuge and relief in the sea. It was noon ; and 
a dense black cloud which, like young Lochinvar, 
"had come out of the west," spread itself as a pall 
between us and the blue sky. Without other warn- 
ing a terrible flash of lightning came, and a peal of 
thunder rolled above our heads, sounding like the 
crack of doom. We all beat a hasty retreat from the 
water as if afraid of getting wet. 

On the way we met a rushing, mighty wind that 
seemed able to lift us from our feet and waft us out 
into the ocean. We reached our dressing rooms with 
difl&culty, only to be more frightened there, for the 
frail buildings shook as if being lifted from their 
foundations. So hastily making as scanty a toilet as 



286 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

a decent respect for the fashion of the period per- 
mitted, we fled, dripping from the rain, to a more se- 
cure shelter. 

*' There is nothing for which the public pays so gen- 
erously as for pleasures. Those that minister to the 
gratification of eye, or ear, or taste, we pay for like 
princes," the judge remarked one day. " Not even 
those whose profession enables them to prolong, and 
sometimes save, our worthless lives are paid half so 
well," responded the parson, with an appreciative 
glance at our doctor ; "nor yet to us," he continued, 
* ' who give consolation to the dying and are believed, 
by some, to prepare souls for a comfortable time here- 
after, not even to us is granted anything like a fair 
equivalent for services rendered, but let some fas- 
cinating actress appear, with fairy feet, and pearly 
teeth, and pretty ways, and lo ! the purse-strings are 
unloosed. Money flows freely enough then." 

These remarks were made as we drove through Mrs. 
John Hoey's grounds at Hollywood, which are gen- 
erously open to the public. The beautiful avenues, 
lined with tall trees, were cool and shady even at mid- 
day. The roads are not nearly so extensive as those 
of Judge Hilton's park at Saratoga, but there is 
something much more cozy and companionable and 
every way more charming. 



THE ROUND TRIP. 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 

WE one day met the editor of the Philadelphia 
Ledger at the Highland house and heard him 
descant on the surprising rise in the price of real es- 
tate in Long Branch since his remembrance. He 
said that the increase of price was largely owing td 
the decrease of supply. Every year the sea made 
dreadful encroachments. "The explanation of the 
high prices seems to be," he said, "that when a 
thing is gone you want it, and are willing to pay 
for it." 

Long Branch was a sandy, seemingly worthless 
waste, reclaimed from the sea at great expense. 
Commodore Garrison paid $10,000 for merely grading 
and loaming his lawn so the grass would grow on it. 

Passing the residence of the proprietor of the New 
York Gilsey house we noticed that a fish-hawk's nest 
held the place of honor in one of the tallest and 
most beautiful trees, 

" I was once told," said our parson, " by a brother 

minister of an instance he knew where a helpless 

family was saved from starvation by a fish-hawk. A 

worthy woman, a fisherman's widow, was disabled by 

rheumatism. Her children were crying for food. 

She had not a mouthful to give them. She knelt 

down and prayed to Him who had promised that ' the 

(287) 



a88 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

righteous should never be forsaken, nor his seed beg- 
ging bread.' She had hardly arisen from her knees, 
when she was attracted to her door by a fish-hawk's 
crazy screech. At that instant a big blue-fish fell at 
her feet. This unexpected provision relieved present 
necessities and lasted till more substantial aid could 
come. The pious woman and the brother minister 
both regarded this event as a direct answer to prayer." 

' ' How do you regard it ? " was asked of the old- 
time parson with the new-time ideas. 

"May it not have been," was the cautious answer, 
"may it not have been that some spirit friend, per- 
haps the dead husband himself, knowing of the for- 
lorn condition of the widow, and deeply moved by it, 
took advantage of the fish -hawk's proximity to the 
widow's cottage, and giving the bird a sudden touch 
of the electric, or magnetic, fluid with which tables 
are sometimes tipped, shocked the creature into let- 
ting the burden drop? I do not say it was so," he 
added, " I only ask might it not have been so? Even 
the Almighty works through Nature's laws, and by 
the use of means. ' ' 

The wife of our host was a petite blonde, with 
golden hair and violet eyes. She was as amiable and 
agreeable as she was vivacious and pretty. Some- 
times on stormy days, when we might have found the 
time passing slowly, she would invite our party to 
her room, and by her animated conversation enter- 
tain us for hours. The room was in itself a museum 
of curiosities and a work of art. It was a study of 
harmonies, herself the most harmonious part of it. 
Her life, as she related it to us, seemed like a romance 
or a drama. 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 289 

*' You have doubtless heard of the famous Taylor 

will case," she remarked on one occasion. " 

Taylor was my grandfather. He took me to Europe 
when I was a mere child, and afterward sent me 
abroad, with my step-mother as chaperone, to com- 
plete my studies. 

' ' We had been absent two years. When our ves- 
sel reached New York I was anticipating a joyful 
meeting with my grandfather, but his private secre- 
tary appeared on the wharf and informed us that the 
old gentleman was seriously ill. I was not even al- 
lowed to see him until he was dead. Then there was 
a conspiracy against my rights, and a forgery. I had 
never seen my grandfather's will, but he had told me 
that he had made one, and that it was largely in my 
favor. The one the conspirators produced left me 
almost penniless. 

" Then they who had professed to be my warmest 
friends forsook me, and I had to fight single handed 
and alone. How true it is, 

" The friends that on our sunshine smile, 
When winter comes are flown ; 
And they who have but tears to shed, 
Must shed those tears alone. 

"For several years I struggled against fearful odds, 
and at last the case was decided. I had won. Then 
it was discovered that my patrimony had disappeared, 
sunk forever out of sight, like water unto sand. It 
had all been gobbled up in the most mysterious 
fashion. As soon as I fully realized that I was an 
heiress without a fortune I set to work to make my 
own way in life. A relative oflfered me a home, but 
I gratefully declined to eat the bread of dependence, 



ago THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

and I learned typewriting. A friend indeed, because 
a friend in need, helped me to help myself. By 
means of a small loan I was enabled to rent an office 
and organize the Blackstone Typewriting Company. 
I employed several ladies and made money." 

"There is no reason why women should not do 
business successfully as well as men," said our lady 
doctor, "no reason either in law or religion. Both 
sexes make mistakes sometimes ; but I think it will 
be seen in the long run that the greatest average of 
failures will not be found on the woman's side." 

It was the afternoon of July 19th, the air was cool 
from recent rains, and the judge proposed we should 
go to see how the Methodists were getting along. 
So we drove to Ocean Grove and Asbury Park and 
around Wesley Lake. The gay boats on the lakes 
were filled with lovers, who seemed to appreciate its 
beauty and its quiet. We left them undisturbed, and 
went to inspect the big tabernacle whose "happy 
gates of gospel grace stand open night and day." 

On July 20th we visited one of the most curious 
places on the Jersey coast. This was Sea Girt, and 
the Beach house. It was Commodore Stockton's old 
place. The upper piazza is fitted up like the deck of 
a ship, with life-boats and preservers ; ropes, fishing 
nets and tackle ; chains, anchors and capstan. 

It was a glorious summer day, and the breeze blew 
from the ocean. 

The judge, who is the politician of our party, told 
us that Commodore Stockton would have been Presi- 
dent in the place of Frank Pierce, if it had not been 
for the following circumstance : 

"When Daniel Webster was at the height of his 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 29I 

fame," said the judge, "he was in Trenton trying 
the celebrated India Rubber case. The State Legis- 
lature, being in session, honored Webster with a re- 
ception. In the midst of the festivities Commodore 
Stockton was called upon for a speech. The Commo- 
dore responded in a glowing tribute to the greatness 
and virtues of Daniel Webster. 

" Years passed. Zachary Taylor's sudden demise 
had made Milliard Fillmore President. The term of 
oflBce was about to expire. 

"In the Democratic caucus Commodore Stockton 
was about to receive the nomination, when some 
doughty Virginian pulled from his pocket an old 
paper and read the Commodore's speech at the recep- 
tion of Webster at Trenton. The shot was effective. 
The candidate was dead ; * dead as a door nail.' " 

"Mentioning General Taylor," said the parson, 
" reminds me of what a colored man remarked about 
his death. He said the ministers were making out 
that Providence killed him. The darkey said that 
wasn't so. It was eating sour cherries and drinking 
cold milk." 

" The history of the case, as I understand it," said 
the doctor, "is simply this: On the 4th of July, 
1850, President Taylor sat in the sun at the Wash- 
ington Monument listening to spread-eagle speeches 
for three hours. While thus exposed to the mid- 
summer heat, he imprudently drank freely of ice- 
water, thus chilling the coats of the stomach, diluting 
the gastric juice, and in fact, almost causing a paralysis 
of the digestive tract. On returning to the White 
House he found a basket of cherries had been sent in. 
Of these he partook heartily, drinking at the same 



292 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

time several goblets of iced milk. His regular dinner 
followed. After dinner he further feasted on the 
cherries and drank more iced milk. At this point 
Dr. Witherspoon, who was his guest, began to pro- 
test. But the physician's warning came too late. 
A violent attack of cholera morbus ensued. A bilious 
fever supervened, which all the eminent doctors in 
attendance could not arrest, and on the 9th of July he 
died. The verdict should have been — * a clear case 
of suicide.' " 

" Well doctor," said the parson, " if all men were 
as prudent as they might be, there would be little 
need of your profession." 

One of the loveliest sights at Long Branch in the 
early morning when the tide is high, and 

" There is an easterly wind and a cloudy sky." 

is the numerous sail-boats trolling for fish. 

They appear in groups, forming all sorts of fanci- 
ful figures. The boats look so tiny, too, in the dis- 
tance — almost like toy boats. This fishing looks 
like play, instead of like one of the greatest indus- 
tries, which it is. When the load of fish was com- 
plete, the little sail-boat would begin to approach the 
sliore. The boat would grow larger as it came 
nearer. The black specks moving on its deck, and 
controlling its speed, and directing its course, would 
develop into men. Often these fishermen were 
dressed in gay colors of red or blue which gave a 
picturesqueness to the scene. 

When there was no harbor the captain of the boat 
would watch his chance and ride in on a big breaker 
which would leave his boat high and dry on the 
beach. 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 293 

Sunday night at Hotel Brighton was about the 
only time that threatened to be hopelessly dull. At 
that time the orchestra were taking a rest ; the 
churches were too far away ; often the roads were too 
dark for walking, and the piazza too cool or too damp 
for sitting outside. 

It was at such times as these that some self-sacrific- 
ing soul like Dr. Baruch's beautiful wife, came to the 
rescue. She would arrange for a literary and musicale 
in the shortest time imaginable. In the most gracious 
manner possible she would call for volunteers, and 
when they were exhausted she would press other 
people into the service. Thus one evening our lady 
doctor was comfortably seated and enjoying the per- 
formances without a single premonition of what was 
to follow, when Mrs. Baruch announced that we 
would now have the pleasure of listening to "The 
Mother-in-law of Moses," from Dr. 

The doctor's heart was in her mouth at the time ; 
but there was no help for it. Besides conscience 
would not allow her to decline to do good to all men 
as she had opportunity. As she arose to face the 
assembled multitude the parson whispered encoura- 
gingly, " freely ye have received, freely give." 

I'll make him remember that quotation, thought 
the doctor ; and she did. 

The next Sunday night the doctor had counseled 
with Mrs. Baruch ; Mrs. Stokes had oflfered her par- 
lor ; those of the household who it was thought 
would enjoy such a treat, were assembled together, 
and then the parson was ushered into the room and 
informed that he was requested to give one of his 
familiar talks on secular and sacred things. It was 



294 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

like throwing a fish into water ! The parson was 
perfectly at home, and acquitted himself to the satis- 
faction of both Jew and Gentile. 

I recollect with what effect he quoted from Paul, 
"What advantage hath the Jew? Much ever}' way, 
but chiefly in this, that unto them are committed the 
oracles of God." 



I 




• It could not be more than Six Thousand Yeaiis, vou Know." 
[Sec pase 162] 



THE ROUND TRIP. 
CHAPTER XXIX. 

ON the 25th of July we drove over a red road to 
Red Bank. We could see heavy showers 
around us in the near distance all the way, but for 
ourselves we had "Queen's weather." When we 
reached the pretty little town we found it had been 
fairly deluged. The mud in the streets was half way 
up to the hubs. 

The sun smiled at our approach, in fact, gave us a 
warm welcome. 

'* By the way the sun stings," said the judge, "I 
know it will rain here soon again. ' ' 

Accordingly we made only a short tarry in that 
town. Looking back from a respectful distance we 
saw that thick black clouds had already re-gathered. 
The strong wind blew straight in our faces and kept 
the rain from us. 

We were home long before dark, and in time to see 
the dancing bears performing on the hotel lawn. How 
in the world such stupid creatures can be taught to 
do such funny things is a great mystery. The rhythm 
of their clumsy movements as they kept time to their 
master's tune was about the drollest thing imaginable. 

Quite in keeping with this exhibition came the 
waiters' concert in the evening. We had paid our 
waiter a dollar apiece for tickets and reserved seats, 
several days before. While the dining-room was be- 
ing cleared of tables and the stage carpenters were at 

(295) 



296 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

work, ill-mannered children had crowded around the 
closed doors and were ready to rush into the best seats 
the moment they were opened. The parlor orchestra 
was in attendance, and the colored singing was really 
excellent, but the acting was coarsely comical. In 
his fun the darkey is almost always grotesque. They 
kept up the frolic until near midnight ; and the 
music inside was accompanied by heavy thunder and 
sharp lightning outside. 

When not on duty at their tables the waiters were 
expected to husk the corn and shell the peas and 
beans. Some of our side windows looked out upof 
the shady corner they had selected for the purpose. 
We could hardly help hearing their jokes and seeing 
their comical antics while at work. 

The next morning after the concert they were even 
more jolly than usual, mocking each others' perform- 
ances, and caricaturing some of their audience. Al- 
though their hands moved slowly at the shelling they 
seemed to be absolutely without a care in the world. 
They evidently regarded life as '*A playtime just 
begun." 

The black women and girls, with their morning 
mopping and sweeping to do, were equally at ease ; 
talking and laughing with arms akimbo, or waltzing 
or pirouetting with their brooms. 

Quite a large proportion of our fellow-boarders at 
the Brighton were Jews. It was our first intimate ex- 
perience with their peculiarities. In many respects 
they became elevated in our estimation. 

Any kind of religious slavery, however, is distaste- 
ful to our parson. He would do away with all relig- 
ious bondage and superstition. 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 397 

We all felt sorry for one family whose table was 
next ours. In the midst of plenty they were half 
starved, fearing they would commit the sin of eating a 
bit of pork. They heroically discarded the most de- 
licious dishes whenever there was the faintest sus- 
picion that they contained a trace of lard. 

The power of such superstition was aptly illustrated 
in the story of the Roman Catholic who killed a 
fellow-workman, and then ate up his dinner, all but 
a piece of meat. When questioned by the lawyer as 
to why he did not eat that, he answered promptly, 
"It was Friday, and would have been a sin." 

One Jewess who had lovely hair covered it constant- 
ly with a cap that made her look ugly. She had 
done this religiously since her marriage lest she should 
seem attractive to other men's eyes. 

Very few husbands could safely exact so severe a 
test of the sincerity of their wives. 

In The New York Ziw*?^' of Sunday, July 31st, was 
a scurrilous attack on the Jews at Long Branch, and 
especially at the Hotel Brighton, which house they 
called, on account of its numerous Hebrew guests, 
' ' The New Jerusalem. ' * Whoever wrote that article 
did a mean thing. The objects of his abuse were 
justly indignant. 

The paper stated that you could recognize the Jews 
not only by the peculiar Israelitish ifeatures, but by 
their general coarseness and their profusion of gems. 

Now it happened that some of the rudest and 
coarsest people there were not Jews at all ; and the 
woman who was most extravagantly bedezined with 
beautiful jewelry was a Baptist ; a member of Dr. 
Armitage's church in good and regular standing. 



298 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

One of the richest and most elegant ladies there was 
the wife of Mr. C, who began his life as a carpenter, 
but is now a large builder in New York City. Mrs. 
C. is not a bit spoiled by prosperity, but still retains a 
lovely and unselfish disposition. She celebrated her 
wedding anniversary by ordering up her handsome bays 
and Victoria and sending her coachman to take some 
ladies out riding who had no carriage of their own. 

One long summer day when the members of our 
party, with the exception of your reporter, had taken 
the 6:40 train for a visit to New York, Mrs. C, kindly 
appreciating her forlorn feelings said, " My dear, have 
you not some calls you would like to make ? If so 
my carriage and servant are at your service. ' ' Gladly 
availing myself of her generosity I invited a lady who 
was left equally lonely, to accompany me in calling 
on some mutual friends at distant hotels. 

It was the first time your reporter had ever gone to 
pay visits in such fine style, and she felt as gay and 
happy as if the whole establishment were her own. 

Neither the parson nor the judge favored card play- 
ing. The former was bitterly opposed to it from early 
prejudice, and the latter because he was not fond of 
unnecessary efibrt, and it was too much labor to learn 
whist. Cards were in truth to our parson a stumbling- 
block of ofiense, and to our judge foolishness. So to 
keep peace in the family whist playing was eschewed, 
save when their absence gave the opportunity. A 
new application of the old adage, " When the cat is 
away the mice will play." 

On the occasion about to be mentioned, J 

M , a prominent Philadelphia merchant, invited 

our lady doctor to be his partner at whist. The game 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 299 

had been a closely contested one ; the rubber was be- 
ing played when the lady on the opposite side made a 
blunder, trumping her partner's ace or something of 
that sort, when Mr. J. M. started suddenly up from 
his seat, and throwing his cards violently on the table 
declared he would not play with a party, any mem- 
ber of whom could do such a stupid thing. 

The expression of the eyes and the manner of Mr. 
M. marked him for a maniac to our doctor, but she 
kept her own counsel. 

Mr. M.'s pretty wife and children were at the 
Brighton for the season. Press of business kept Mr. 
M. in town except over Sundays. The doctor noticed 
that as Saturday night came on the wife, usually so 
gay and lively, became nervous and depressed ; and 
that she always gave a little sigh of relief when she 
came in from seeing her husband oflf on the train on 
Monday mornings. 

Weeks and mouths passed ; and then the Press pub- 
lished a notice that Mr. J. M. had suddenly gone in- 
sane. The next day his brothers contradicted the 
report ; but the next day came again an affirmation 
of the original story with a detailed account of ravings 
and of secreting pistols and knives. 

The community breathed more freely when the fact 
of his being safely confined in Kirkbride's was con- 
firmed. 

Old ocean has his moods which are rarely the same 
for any length of time. Some think for this reason 
that the feminiue gender should have been attributed 
to him ; but our doctor has discovered that men have 
their mental ups and downs, their periods, and tem- 
pers as well as women. 



300 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

However, let us return to the subject, as the 
preachers say. 

One early morning we were going out on horse- 
back and we arose before the sun. What was our 
surprise to see the ocean masquerading as a river. 
The gently swelling billows formed lines like furrows 
in the land. Then came a broad, smooth, shining 
surface marking the deeper currents of the stream. 
Beyond and on the opposite bank as it seemed, the 
clouds shutting closely down, made the semblance of 
trees ; while again beyond and partly above all this, 
a red aurora looked like tall grass waving in a prairie 
fire! 

As we were riding along, our attention was attracted 
by a fish-hawk carrying a bush big enough for stick- 
ing peas. 

" He cannot be intending to build a new nest so 
late in the season," exclaimed the doctor. 

** O ! no," answered the judge. *' He sees signs of 
an approaching storm, and is simply strengthening 
the old nest ; barricading the fort as it were, so as to 
hold it against the enemy." 

*' Speaking of enemies," said the parson, " do you 
know the little king-bird is the fish-hawk's most in- 
veterate enemy ? He can whip the fish-hawk, too, 
no matter if he is so much smaller." 

"The king-bird sometimes gets the worst of the 
fight, though," said the doctor. Dr. T., speaking of 
the fish-hawk last summer in the White Mountains, 
told me this story, which he said was true : 

"One day some enemy taking a mean advantage of 
the absence of the male fish -hawk attacked the mother 
bird while she was brooding over her nest full of 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 3OI 

young ones. She fought desperately to save her home 
and children, but weakened by her recent incubation 
and confinement, she was no match for the terrible 
creature. The father bird returned just in time to 
witness the final catastrophe and to avenge the injury. 
Over the dead body of his mate he uttered the most 
doleful screams. Then he went and sat for a short 
time near his desolate nest. 

"The young ones were crying with hunger; but 
he did not even attempt to feed them. He evidently 
thought this was no time for feasting. 

" Presently he started up and suddenly flew away. 
He was gone a long while ; and when he returned a 
dozen or more fish-hawks came with him. They 
circled round and round, showing great interest and 
excitement. Finally all the visiting birds but one 
flew away. She remained as step-mother to the be- 
reaved little ones. The widower bird had found con- 
solation in a new union." 

*' How like folks that is," remarked a lady who was 
riding with us ; " especially like men folks. Do you 
know, I sometimes think it is only the marriage re- 
lation they value, and not the individual companion 
at all ? I have known several men to be-speak a 
second partner before the life had gone out of the first 
love. ' ' 

The judge did not altogether relish these remarks, 
and so he said with slightly stinging sarcasm, "every- 
body has a right to tell his own experience." Then 
modified by the quieting efiect of this burst of irony, 
he added, "men, we must admit, are more ardent as 
lovers, while women are more ardent as wives. The 
latter have the conjugal element much more de- 



302 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

veloped. When a man has fairly won a woman to be 
his wife he may safely rest on his oars awhile. If he 
does nothing to disgust her, she is very likely to love 
on blindly to the end, just because he is her husband. 
On the contrary the man often becomes cold and in- 
different to his wife simply because she is his wife. 
If she were only some other man's wife, or a dashing 
widow, or *a maiden fancy free,' she would seem 
perfectly charming in his eyes." 

The judge is frank and generous almost to a fault, 
and so admitted more than most men would. 

*'It is a curious fact to me, and one which I have 
only lately discovered," said the doctor, " that women 
crave more love as they grow older. Even the well 
satisfied maternal yearnings cannot make amends for 
the lack of masculine devotion. 

"Without any breach of confidence I can tell you, 
that at least one woman at Hotel Brighton, with 
affectionate grown-up sons, is slowly dying from the 
lack of her husband's love. Another neglected wife, 
who in her youth chose between two devoted lovers, 
is to-day regretting that she did not accept the other 
one, who, although far less successful in a worldly 
point of view, would have been a life-long lover. 
' He would have loved me now as he loved me then,' 
she moaned in her sad loneliness which medicines 
cannot relieve. 

' ' O the smell of that jasmine flower ! And oh ! that 
music 1 and oh, the way that voice rang out : 

" ' Non ti scordar di me ! 
Non ti scordar di me ! ' 

quoted Mrs. , from ' Aux Italiens.' " 



THE ROUND TRIP. 
CHAPTER XXX. 

ON the Jews' Sabbath, or Shabbas, as they called 
it, the Jewish gentlemen went to town to at- 
tend to business as usual, while the Jewish ladies 
remained quietly within doors, and refrained from 
dancing, from cards, and even from bathing. 

On our Sunday, as early as 6 A. M., omnibus loads 
of the Irish help, "which mostly was women of 
course," wended their way to the new Catholic 
church, " Star of the Sea." 

At eight A. M., loads of the Romanist lady guests 
followed them to early mass. 

"Where are all their men folks?" queried our 
parson : and found they were still sleeping, or loaf- 
ing, smoking on the piazzas, or already at the bar, or 
in the billiard room. He concluded that the women 
of all the great religions seem expected to do up the 
piety of the family, and the community. 

" The men awake in time to come and do the vot- 
ing on all questions of church polity, finances, and 
government," sneered the doctor. 

During five weeks, "morn, noon and night," we 
shared our table with a very pleasant New York 
family. The gentleman was one of the most agree- 
able, polite and generous-hearted men in the world. 

His wife was pretty and stylish, and although much 

(303) 



304 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

younger, was very fond of her husband. Every day 
they had wine or brandy for their dinner : and their 
young son and little daughter were given a portion of 
it slightly weakened with water. One could not 
help a shudder at the possible, and probable con- 
sequences. 

" Do you seriously object to the use of ardent 

spirits?" asked Mr. , as he noted our repeated 

refusals to drink with them. 

" O no ! " was our answer. ' * We only object to 
the abuse of them. As a medicine they are often- 
times wonderfully eflScient ; as a beverage they are 
dreadfully dangerous. The alcohol habit, even in 
moderate drinking, is so deleterious that when acci- 
dents happen or illness supervenes, the patient does 
not stand half a chance of recovery." 

The words seemed to have little eflfect at the time, 

but awhile afterward, when Mr. was taken sick 

with pneumonia they must have recurred powerfully. 
At the critical period when stimulants are called for, 
they had no more effect than so much water, and he 
sank into a collapse in which he died. 

There was one notable phenomenon presented in 
the household of the Brighton, which some of our 
party had observed elsewhere, namely, that pairs of 
women resembled each other. They were not re- 
lated in any other way, and were often of diflferent 
national ties. Nevertheless they looked, and some- 
times dressed, so much alike they were easily mis- 
taken for each other. 

Another thing which the judge considered an un- 
cxplainable phenomenon was that our horses' shoes 
wore out twice as fast on the macadamized, and on the 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 305 

sandy roads of the summer capital, as they do on the 
cobblestone pavements of Philadelphia. 

During the first month at Long Branch there was a 
freedom from insects, a bracing breeze, and a tem- 
perature which was altogether lovely. When dog- 
days came on we wished that a dog never had his 
days. 

The mosquitoes became so bad we did not know 
what to do. The judge met a little girl whose ac- 
quaintance we had formed. She was going up stairs 
unusually early. 

"I've got thirty- two bites on one leg," she told 
him confidentially, and — repeated sadly and almost 
tearfully — " on one leg." 

The atmosphere became so humid that things 
grew moldy, as when the world had been covered 
with water forty days, and the ark rested on the top 
of Mount Ararat. 

The judge naturally skeptical, objected to the allu- 
sion to the story of Noah's flood. 

The parson turned to the account in Genesis. 

"What does geology say about it?" asked the 
judge. 

" Not one flood but many," meekly responded the 
parson. 

Our parson seldom attempts to be facetious, but he 
changed the subject suddenly by remarking, 

" Doctor, these mosquitoes must be confreres of 
yours ; they are evidently educated in the allopathic 
school, and believe in the therapy of bleeding." 

Almost every place has its little romance. The 
Brighton had one a year old. 

The housekeeper of the hotel happened to be a 



3o6 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

very beautiful woman of thirty or thereabouts. She 
was very popular, and very much patronized by the 
guests. A very rich man, in search of a wife, came 
to board. People with marriageable daughters con- 
sidered him a great catch, and courted him con- 
stantly. They began to frown upon the housekeeper 
and tried to keep her in the background. The un- 
called for persecution of the housekeeper seemed to 
be the first thing which attracted his attention to her. 

Some of the young ladies who had hoped to get 
him for a husband were greatly scandalized when 
they met him walking with or talking to her. Some 
went so far as not to recognize him any longer. 
Opposition only lent fuel to the flame. Ten days 
the courtship went on. At the end of that time the 
rich New Yorker waited upon the proprietor and en- 
gaged the best suite of rooms in the house for him- 
self and bride ; and then informed him that the 
position of housekeeper was vacant. 

The affair was a nine days' wonder, but ever^'body 
was obliged to accept the situation ; and the principal 
parties to the contract seemed delighted. 

This summer the old story was revived by an ac- 
cident which threatened the life of their baby. The 
doctor was summoned to attend the infant in a 
disease which the parents had diagnosed as marasmus. 

The symptoms were mysterious. Medicine seemed 
to have little effect. The doctor was perfectly puz- 
zled. Suddenly it occurred to him that this was a 
bottle-fed baby. 

"Let me see that bottle," he called out to the 
nurse. 

On examination he found that the rubber tube had 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 307 

become occluded ; and then he knew he had a case 
of starvation. The baby was already in a cyanosed 
condition, but he succeeded in saving its life. 

One morning when our doctor had been to make 
an early call and was returning through an upper 
corridor, she passed a door at which an infurated 
husband was knocking. His hair was disheveled, 
his eyes staring, and he looked like a gambler re- 
turning to the bosom of his family after a night's 
carousal. 

"What is the matter?" inquired the doctor. 

*' My wife won't let me in," he growled with an 
oath. "I'll bet a hundred dollars she's got company 
in there." 

" Why don't you just go around that narrow hall 
and get into the window from the side piazza?" 

"I never thought of that," he answered, gruffly. 

As soon as the demon was far enough away, she 
spoke close to the door, and very distinctly, 

" The coast is clear for a moment. Run for your 
life to the vacant room opposite." 

Then as she went rapidly along her own way, 
casting a glance backward, she saw two hastily draped 
figures rushing across the passage way, first stopping 
to lock the door behind them. 

Thus it is : a large hotel is a little world by itself. 
It has its own special comedies, and tragedies as well. 

And now the time of our exit from this stage, where 
for five weeks we had played our parts, arrived. 

We took unwilling leave of the spots which had 
proved most delightful to us, and from the people 
who had become most dear. The sea was very boister- 
ous when we went to take our parting dip in it. 



3o8 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

Even the bathing master acknowledged it was not 
entirely safe. 

The man whose business it was to guard the bathers 
looked more on the alert than usual. He was a 
muscular fellow. Every pose indicated conscious 
strength and power. His body, bare to the loins, 
was so hairy that the judge had christened him "The 
watch dog of the sea." 

The world had grown broader to us in this sojourn. 
We had taken new friends into our hearts, and 
henceforth we should feel a personal interest in many 
more lives. 

About midnight, August 4th, we said "good-bye" 
to those we had so lately learned to love, and retired 
in preparation for a very early start the next morning. 

The day broke clear and cool and bright, August 
5tli. 

As is his custom on leaving a hotel where we have 
been well entertained, the parson, reverently knelt 
and asked a blessing on those who should next occupy 
our rooms. 

It was a glorious morning. The birds were sing- 
ing, and a fresh breeze was blowing in the right 
direction. There was the scent of sweet-brier in the 
air distilled by the heavy dew which had laid the 
dust. The wild white parsnip was in such profusion 
of bloom that the road looked as if decked in bridal 
array. 

Lex and Oscar never looked handsomer, nor seemed 
in better spirits. They had no regrets in leaving, al- 
though they had fared sumptuously every day, and 
little knew what might be in store for them. They 
struck at once into their regular traveling jog. The 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 309 

judge always insisted that Lex knew the moment the 
annex was put on the carriage, and the telescope bag 
brought out, that we were going on a journey again. 

We had eight miles to drive to the landing above 
Red Bank, where we took the elegant steamboat 
Albertina for New York, 

" lyook out for the stern of that there boss on the 
nigh side," cried one small boy to another, as the 
pair were being led on board the boat. 

Lex had a natural antipathy for boys of that age 
which he took no pains to conceal. 

We went down the Navesink river. We passed near 
the Navesink lights, which are the first the mariner 
sees after crossing the Atlantic. 

We saw the boat St. Johns waiting at Sandy Hook 
for the passengers, whom the train, already in sight, 
was bringing from the towns along the Southern 
coast. 

We entered Raritan Bay and saw Far Rockaway 
and Coney Island to the right. 

" O, yes, I sees the elephant. He's got a little old 
house on his back," we heard a little barefooted fellow 
say, and then looked for it ourselves. 

Staten Island, with Forts Hamilton, Lafayette and 
Washington, with their memories of war time, claimed 
our attention. 

We had a good deal of fun about the judge going 
as our coachman and having no fare to pay. 

Bedloe's Island, round as an Indian mound, rising 
from the sea, and crowned with Bartholdie's statue of 
liberty, was quite new to some of our party. 

We landed at the foot of Franklin street, and after 
making our way over the pier through crowds of 



3IO THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

wagons, and piles of freight, ostensibly aided, but 
often really impeded, by loudly vociferating police- 
men, we struck out into Hudson street for the Troy 
boat landing. We succeeded, after quite a struggle, 
in gaining the right-hand track, and congratulated 
ourselves, thinking we could keep ahead of anything 
which might be coming up behind. 

Presently a boy on a white horse passed, frantically 
waving a red flag. He made no other sign and uttered 
no word. The merest curiosity prompted us to look 
back. A heavy freight train was bearing down upon 
us ! It was borne along by its own momentum and 
would have crushed our frail vehicle like an egg- 
shell. We lost no time in clearing the track. 

The captain of the Troy boat received us very 
cordially. By a generous suspension of ordinary 
rules we were allowed to take early possession of the 
state-rooms previously engaged. 

After arranging our traps and making things look 
homelike, we went over to Brooklyn to see old friends 
and enjoy the luxury of a Turkish bath. 

"Make the most of it," said the judge : "We shall 
have no chance of being clean again for about two 
months. ' ' 




Wiiv Mamma' has noi' tiik Tahson ,n si t(ii.i> i s ii<nv \vk i>i liin to 

lpl> i;c)()I> WHENKVKl: \VK IIAVK A CIIANCK:'" 



[See p-aw U:i] 



THE ROUND TRIP. 
CHAPTER XXXI. 

UNDER the guidance of Dr. C. H. Shepard and 
his son Percy Westbrook, we went over the 
Brooklyn Bridge, and all the way back to the Troy 
boat by the elevated roads. 

On board the City of Troy we very unexpectedly 

met our bachelor friend S , en route for Saratoga. 

His usually serious and somewhat sad face was lighted 
up with a look of happy anticipation for which we 
were quite unable to account, until several days 
afterwards he wrote us, 

*'Veni, vidi, vici. Congratulate me. I am en- 
gaged. ' ' 

It seems he had made the trip for the especial pur- 
pose of offering himself, and had been accepted. 

" Marrying an old bachelor is a risky piece of busi- 
ness anyhow," said the judge. 

" I'd like to know if it is not risky business to 
marry any one, ' ' said the doctor. 

" Many a woman stands at the altar with the man 
who is to be, to all intents and purposes, her murderer. 
I have seen many cases where I knew the husband 
was the direct cause of the wife's death. Yet the law 
could take no hold upon him. There are wounds 
which leave no external mark. Words, and even 
looks, can stab a sensitive heart as well as knives." 

The Hudson is our river Rhine. It is very lovely. 
The elegant residences which adorn its banks are 

(3") 



312 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

very beautiful. The night grew dark before we 
reached the most charming parts. We met some 
excursion boats hastening toward the city. One 
picnic party came far out on the rocks to salute us. 
There were screams from the ladies, and shouts oi 
laughter from the boat, as the moving water gave a 
swash which must have drenched them to the skin. 

The night was damp as well as dark, and when we 
reached Troy it was in a drizzling rain. 

While the horses were being harnessed several 
teamsters tried to advise us as to the best route to 
Bellow's Falls. Their counsel was so contradictory 
that we could get but little comfort from it. 

In one thing they all agreed, and that was, we 
must go to Lansingburg, six miles away, a suburb 
of Troy. So we drove there to the Phoenix hotel 
for breakfast. 

lyansingburg is the older place, and for some years 
was expected to be the principal city, and Troy the 
suburb. I know not what fatality changed its 
destiny. 

At ten o'clock we had reached Melrose Park hotel, 
and concluded to dine there and wait for the rain to 
cease. 

This is what is called a road house. Parties from 
town telephone out for dinner or supper. 

"We don't keep no help," the landlady confiden- 
tially told the doctor : *' consequently we can't have 
no city boarders." 

Her appearance reminded us of the epitaph, 
" Here lies an old woman who always was tired ; 
For she lived in a house where help was not hired." 

Nevertheless she gave us an excellent dinner. 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 313 

We took a nap, and rested and refreshed ourselves, 
and saw the residence of John M. Frances, our min- 
ister to Spain. 

About the best temperance lecture in the world is 
the sight of men who should be in the prime of life, 
going about with shaky limbs and bleared eyes ; 
perfect wrecks of humanity. There seemed to be a 
large number of these in the pretty little place called 
Melrose. 

It was Saturday afternoon, and to avoid spending 
Sunday at Melrose, we started as soon as the sun 
shone, on our way towards Bennington. 

When at 4:55 we reached Eagle Bridge on the 
Hoosick river, the landlord there told us we were 
taking the wrong route, and advised us to go to 
Cambridge, N. Y., to stay all night. He also ad- 
vised us not to go by way of Bennington to Bellow's 
Falls, as that would take us much further south than 
we need go. We were sorry to give up seeing a place 
of such historical associations ; but the time and dis- 
tance were matters worthy of some consideration ; 
for although we "were on pleasure bent," we must 
needs retain "a frugal mind" in regard to such 
things. 

So we then and there decided to make as early as 
possible a bee-line across the State of Vermont. 

We were still within the borders of the old Empire 
State. While passing through Rensselaer county the 
judge told us of the anti-renters' excitement of years 
ago. When the country was new, it seems a large 
land tract was given to one Van Rensselaer, who was 
the founder of the Albany family of that name. He 
was designated as " Patroon," which was probably 



314 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

the Dutch for patron. He and his descendants claimed 
tithes on all the lands mentioned in their grant. At 
last this became so obnoxious that the tenants arose 
in revolt, and banded together calling themselves 
Anti-renters. Their cause entered into the politics 
of the time, involving not only Rensselaer county, 
but the whole State of New York. 

We were going through a high, hilly, semi-moun- 
taneous country. Beautiful maples, walnut and elm 
trees spread their branches over the way. Each 
stretch of road had an individuality all its own. In 
Rensselaer county we saw the first golden rod of the 
season. The white wild parsnip flower was there 
too, also the lovely clematis and the sweet smelling 
cethra. 

We hardly saw a guide-board in the whole day's 
travel, and so were often forced to ask directions. 
Those which women gave us were always much the 
most reliable and explicit. 

There was a delightful air of thrift about most of 
the farm houses ; but now and then we came by one 
of which the judge would remark, 

*' Either a sluggard or a drunkard lives here, for 

' As we passed by the garden, 
We saw the wild brier, 
The thorn and the thistle, 
Grow broader and higher.' " 

It was 5:45 P. M. when we reached the beautiful 
town of Cambridge, Washington County, N. Y., aud 
stopped at the Union hotel. We found the house well 
patronized by Troy people. The pretty place seemed 
to have but one fault, and that was excessive shade. 
The average temperature is said to be remarkably low 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 315 

iu summer and high in winter, almost like the sea- 
shore. It has a population of about three thousand, 
with seven churches. 

The great industry of the out-lying farming dis- 
tricts is potato growing. 

That Saturday night there was a sudden change in 
the weather. With the proverbial carelessness of 
tourists, we spent the evening on the piazza very illy 
protected. The consequence was we found ourselves 
next morning with a cold in the liead. 

The wife of the proprietor was born in Virginia. 
To the Southern demonstrative cordiality she added 
the Northern tact and hospitality, and so made a most 
charming landlady. The judge appreciates such 
people thoroughly, and declared he would go a dozen 
miles out of his way to be her guest again. Her only 
son, a splendid young man just twenty-one, was home 
from the West for his first vacation in six years. 
Several years before that two enterprising young men 
from Cambridge went to Wisconsin and established a 
banking house. One of them coming back on a 
visit took this boy of fifteen to Milwaukee as book- 
keeper's clerk. The firm to-day are worth ^200,000 ; 
and this boy is become one of their most valued and 
trusty assistants. 

On that bright cool Sunday morning we walked 
under lines of shady trees to the Methodist church a 
mile away. The minister's text was the thiefs 
prayer, ' ' I/ord, remember me when thou comest into 
thy kingdom." To prove some assertion of his he 
quoted from the " Prince of the House of David." 
He admitted, however, that the novel was a novel a.nd 
so must be taken with some grains of allowance. He 



3l6 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

was a little mixed on the subject of the resurrection. 
He represented the thief as not being yet admitted to 
Heaven, but in some place of peace waiting for the 
judgment day and his old body. 

"If the poor fellow is getting along comfortably 
without the old shell for these hundreds of years, I 
see no need of crawling into it again," said the judge. 

' ' Perhaps, ' ' replied the parson, ' ' that Methodist 
minister thinks it would not be respectful for the 
thief to appear a naked soul before his maker ; so he 
is represented to be waiting as it were, for his clothes 
before making his d^but into heavenly society." 

That parson should read Sir John Herschel on the 
literal Resurrection. He, Herschel, estimated that 
one human pair would in a hundred generations pro- 
duce such a multitude, that allowing each person one 
foot square and four feet high of space, the whole 
surface of the earth would be covered, and in 3,000 
years the column would reach 3,674 times the dis- 
tance between the sun and the earth. 

That Sabbath afternoon was so fine that we almost 
thought duty required us to improve it by driving 
eighteen miles on our route, as far as Arlington. So 
regretfully leaving our nice quarters at Cambridge, we 
passed through a wild bit of country and a rough 
gorge along the Battonkill river. There was one 
place where we went for a long distance, miles we 
thought it, through a deep green forest. We were 
very glad that we had several hours of daylight left, 
and were not likely to be overtaken by darkness before 
reaching our destination. 

It was nearly sundown, and we had crossed into 
Vermont, when we found ourselves again comfortably 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 317 

fixed in a hotel. About twenty city boarders were 
singing Sunday hymns in the parlor. After supper 
they resumed the singing, and kept it up till they had 
exhausted both their list of songs and their vocal 
powers. 

Then our parson walked quietly across the room 
and seated himself on the piano stool in front of the 
organ. He informed them that he always thought it 
his duty to contribute his share on all such occasions ; 
and since nature had given him no talent for singing, 
he would talk to them a little. 

With this pretty introduction he proceeded to sow 
good seed by the way-side. 

When he had made an end of speaking several of 
the people came up and shook hands and thanked 
him. 

One of them, a handsome lawyer from New York, 
happened to remark, 

' ' As my friend Rev. Sidney D , of Providence 

Conference says : " when one of our party exclaimed, 

"Do you know Mr. D ?" and the judge who 

never has any secrets of his own nor anybody else's, 
said, 

** He wanted her for his second wife." 

The New York lawyer said, " Is it possible that I 

see Miss . Mr. D. told me all about that little 

episode twenty years ago." 

When we were by ourselves that night our parson 
asked, *' Did you notice with what fervor the elderly 
women seemed to enter into the songs that were a 
worship of Jesus ? Love — the love of man — has 
failed them : they still desire love. Jesus is the ideal 
man. They easily give themselves to Him." 



3l8 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

"By a parity of reasoning," said the doctor, "the 
elderly men should worship at the shrine of the Virgin 
Mary." 

"They do, if they happen to be Roman Catholics," 
said the gallant judge : "and if they are fortunate 
enough to be Liberals they worship at the shrine of 
any other virgin. In the latter case, they do not 
feel obliged to confine themselves to any particular 
name. The virgin Hannah Jane is just as good as 
Mary to them." 



THE ROUND TRIP. 
CHAPTER XXXII. 

AS we were leaving the town early next morning, 
one of our party remarked, *' I have discovered 
what has become of all the white marble top tables 
that have so completely disappeared from the homes 
of fashion and affluence. They have been used to pave 
the side- walks of Arlington ! " 

It was indeed a queer sight. Here was a slab ap- 
parently taken from a six-foot square table ; and 
another of equal length, but half the width. They 
made up whole blocks of side-walk. There they lay 
white and glistening to be trodden under foot of men. 

Again we went through a well cultivated and 
beautiful country. We passed one elegant summer 
hotel, the Equinox House at Manchester. 

We saw one regular Yankee contrivance — a calf was 
hitched by a long rope to the rim of an old wheel. 
The wheel lay flat on the ground. Through its hub 
a stake was securely stuck. The wheel easily revolved 
on the stake, and the animal could move without be- 
coming tangled in the radius of the rope. 

At last we reached the Green mountains, over which 
we were to cross on a turnpike road. Almost the 
first thing we had to do was to pay a quarter of a dol- 
lar toll, which was astonishingly cheap, considering 

(319) 



320 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

the length of the road, about seven miles, and the 
great difficulty of making it. The road had no turns 
and but few houses. We went through forest and 
jungle, with occasional openings whence we obtained 
beautiful views ; and all along there were sweetly sing- 
ing birds and wild- wood flowers, ' ' Sweet wild- wood 
flowers. ' ' 

We met a stage-coach with the United States mail 
on board. We also met a pack-pedler, another har- 
binger of civilization. 

On this desolate way was one school-house. The 
question naturally arose as to where the children came 
from. 

The judge said "perhaps, 

" Each valley, each sequestered glen, 
Sends forth its horde of little men," 

It was only a slight transposition, but quite a new 
application. 

We arrived at Peru at noon, and alighted at the 
little old red farm house dignified by the name ot 
Bromley House. We were soon surprised by the 
splendid dinner spread out for us. 

Mr. Davis, the host, appeared not only as head 
waiter, but as the sole and only one, also the carver, 
in long white apron. 

The dinner was in regular courses : but when he 
asked, "Will you have brown sauce or capers, with 
your mutton?" we thought that clapped the climax. 

Our delight with his dinner was so gratifying to him, 
that he opened his whole heart and life to us. 

This was the place of his birth. His highest 
ambition as a youth had been to sometime have money 
enough to buy the old homestead. He became in 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 321 

time a successful caterer in New York city. He 
started Partridge's restaurant in Philadelphia. In 
1864 he returned to his native State and bought the 
old farm, thus realizing his boyish dreams and desire. 

Mr. Davis begged us to excuse him for seeming a 
little hurried that day. He said he had a telephone 
message that a party of twelve were driving from 
Dorset to dine at the Bromley, and he was expecting 
their arrival at any moment. 

We had only just finished our repast, when with 
great clatter and flourish, and blowing of horns, the 
expected guests came. 

Mr. Davis was on hand to welcome them with beam- 
ing smiles. We afterwards overheard him lauding us ; 
and telling them that one of our pair of horses, Oscar, 
cost fifteen hundred dollars ! Now as this sum was 
about three times too much, we knew how to average 
the value of his praises of ourselves ; so this calcula- 
tion kept us from being puffed up. 

Our next point of approach was to be Grafton. 

Mr. Davis kindly showed us maps of the road, and 
gave us as he thought, most careful directions ; but 
forgot to mention the very first turn. The conse- 
quence was that when we came to that, we naturally 
mistook that for the first one he had described, and so 
we went wrong almost from the start. After some 
time, we found ourselves going almost due south, 
when we should have been driving east. When the 
judge's attention was called to the matter, he said, 
with his usual hopefulness. 

*' I guess it is all right. You know what they call 
' a straight road^ here does not mean the same thing 
as in the flat sands of New Jersey. Besides, you must 



322 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

remember Mr. Davis told us we are to cross another 
mountain. We may be going partly around its base. ' ' 

This seemed good reasoning. Nevertheless the rest 
of the party were visibly uneasy. The houses were 
far apart, and we met no one. After what seemed an 
age, we came to a place where a man was feeding his 
pigs in his door-yard. 

In answer to our inquiries, he informed us that we 
had been going off on a tangent for the last hour or so. 
There were two ways of getting back to the "big 
road" and taking a fair start towards Grafton. One 
was to retrace our steps, and the other was to drive 
across, through the farmer's "short cut," which was 
half grown up with brush and grass. The cut was 
only a mile and a half long, and there were only one 
or two pairs of bars to let down ! 

Almost anything was better than to go back, and 
we unanimously chose the "short cut." 

The parson improved the occasion by observing 
how one mis-step in life throws everything out of gear. 

We had been tired to begin with, and grew nervous 
and excited as the day waned. 

The evening primroses had long since opened their 
golden eyes and the dews of night were falling fast, 
when we came in sight of Grafton, and soon after 
reached the door of Phelp's hotel. 

It was but a meagre welcome we received. The 
landlord, who was also the undertaker of the town, 
had in handling a corpse, dead from Erysipelas, con- 
tracted blood poisoning. The doctors had given a 
very unfavorable prognosis of his case, and his friends 
were waiting to see him die. Meanwhile the hotel 
had been running itself, and was nearly run down we 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 323 

thought. The only thing about the whole establish- 
ment which seemed to be in a flourishing condition 
was a beautiful collection of house plants. They 
crowded the upper piazza, and like the famous wild 
brier, grew and grew till they could get no higher. 

Early the next morning, which was Tuesday, we 
resumed our journey. The weather was simply per- 
fect, neither too cool nor too warm. We were bound 
for Bellows Falls and hoped to dine there. 

The direction given was " follow Saxton's river and 
the telegraph poles. ' ' 

We got along finely until we came to a place where 
the telegraph poles went one way, and the river flowed 
the other. At the foot of a high hill they separated : 
"like the sheep and the goats in the day of judgment," 
the parson said : the one to the right and the other to 
the left. 

What were we to do ? Clearly we could no longer 
follow both. 

Thinking that the telegraph would take the 
shortest and most direct route we followed it up the 
hill, and took the first opportunity to inquire. For- 
tunately both roads met again at no great distance. 

With a delightful accompaniment of singing birds 
and sunshine, lovely skies and lively talk, we drove 
over and through hills and Green mountains. 

Often we came to a spot where a solitary farm house 
stood in a little dell of its own. The whole outlook 
would perhaps be no more than a mile in circumfer- 
ence. 

Sometimes a bed of lillies, or rockets, or sweet-wil- 
liams, would brighten a little weather-beaten house 
and make in the wilderness a delight for the eyes. 



324 ''■^HE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

In one of these dells, a little " child amid the 
flowers at play," reminded the judge of the mouse 
story. 

"Once upon a time a mouse was born in the till of 
a chest. One day when he had g^own large enough 
to climb to the edge of the till, he clumsily tumbled 
over into the bottom, and with astonishment ex- 
claimed, ' Why, mother ! what a big world we live 
in!'" 

The frequent watering troughs were great sources 
of gratitude to us. 

"The merciful man is merciful to his beasts," 
quoted our parson. 

"And to other folk's beasts as well," quickly re- 
sponded the judge, as he sprang out to loosen the head 
checks, and let Lex and Oscar refresh themselves in 
one of these overflowing roadside cups. 

One of the charms of driving through new country 
is, you are always wondering what novelty of scenery, 
or adventure, will present itself to-morrow. 

"One thing we know" said the doctor, "there 
will be thorns as well as roses in the way. " " No, ' ' re- 
sponded the hopeful judge, "roses as well as thorns, 
you mean : " and we all concluded that was the much 
better statement of an obvious fact. 

" Forever more to-morrow lends 
Bright visions of completeness ; 
True lovers, and most steadfast friends 
With faces full of sweetness. 

" Press onward, aye, and upward, heart. 
While we our gladness borrow : 
For hope and 1 shall never part 
While we can have to-morrow." 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 325 

Not only has each stretch of road an individuality 
of its own, but so has each day's drive. 

Thus the first day out from Troy was like the 
northern part of Sussex county in New Jersey. The 
second day, the verdure was like that of the Alle- 
ghanies ; and the third day, we were constantly re- 
minded of Rhode Island scenery. 

The first days out the streams of water all came run- 
ning tpward us, going to join the Hudson. After we 
had crossed the mountains the streams went with us, 
gently murmuring as if showing us the way to the 
Connecticut river. 

We went straight across the State of Vermont, 
traveling like the sun worshippers, with our faces al- 
ways toward the east. 

One experiences a melancholy pleasure in going 
over roads over which he has never been, and is not 
likely ever to go again. It is at once a glad greeting 
and a pathetic parting. 

It was still two hours before noon when we reached 
Bellows Falls. 

"I should be ashamed of our horses," said the 
judge, "if they could not average six miles an hour, 
and walk half the way at that." 

In Bellows Falls every foot of space is utilized. 
The railroads, or rather one of them, enters town under- 
ground. It is a thriving business place with large 
paper mills, and a glue factory which smells to heaven. 

We put up at the Townsend House and enjoyed a 
very nicely served dinner. 

From a side window we could look out into a 
chicken yard where was a chopping block. A 
sharp axe lay suggestively beside it. The spring 



326 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

chickens were actually mounting that block, seeming- 
ly ready and willing to be sacrificed to appease the 
appetite of the hungry traveler. 

We were tempted by the Townsend's bountiful 
table to remain : but the weather was so propitious 
and the horses still so fresh, we concluded to go on 
twenty miles more and stop at Claremont, N. H., for 
the night. 

In going there, we crossed the C. river railroad 
thirteen times ! We passed through several very at- 
tractive places. One of the prettiest was Charlestown 
on the bank of the river. 

All about the roads were magnificent, and the scen- 
ery splendid. Often we passed places where a dozen 
or more handsome shade trees lined the road in front 
of some handsome house. 

Near Claremont some one had generously made an 
avenue of a mile of maples in double rows. 

We were all quite ready to call a halt when at 5:30 
we arrived at Claremont and began looking for the 
Belmont House, to which we had been recommended. 

The broad streets, white houses with green blinds, 
and well-kept grounds, impressed us with the idea 
that the Belmont must be correspondingly inviting. 

It is against the judge's principles to inquire for 
anything which he can find himself; and so it hap- 
pened that we passed and repassed the hotel without 
recognizing its insignificant entrance. 

A friendly neighbor volunteered to ring the door 
bell. As no one came, he pushed open the door and 
called up-stairs, "Will, Will," several times. At last 
William appeared. 

Why in such a roomy town, any one should have 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 327 

thought it necessary, or becoming, to build a hotel 
up-stairs was " one of those things " 

Otherwise Claremont was a sweet place. It was on 
Sugar river. Many of the residences were beautiful. 
One Moody from New York had an elegant stock 
farm near. In coming down a stony hill from there, 
poor Lex, always the unfortunate one, stumbled and 
slightly sprained himself. 

We had ordered breakfast at the Belmont at 6 A. 
M., but had to wait for the bell till 7. Meanwhile 
we visited the stables to inquire after the health of 
the horses. We found Lex quite lame. In another 
half hour we had devoured what little we could of our 
breakfast and started. 

Another lovely day, with nothing to dampen our 
pleasure save the little limp of Lex. As he went on 
that seemed to get better. We did not hurry ; but at 
9 o'clock we were at Cornish Flats, a pretty New 
England village arrayed in white and green, and all 
so very clean, ten miles away. 



THE ROUND TRIP. 
CHAPTER XXXIII. 

IT was a little while before noon when we arrived 
at lyebanon, a large white village with a railroad, 
the Boston and Lowell, called also the Northern 
railroad. 

We were delighted to find a delicious twelve o'clock 
dinner just ready for us. We were hungry, and did 
that dinner ample justice. 

The hotel was too near the depot for comfortable 
resting ; so at 2 o'clock we pushed on for Lyme, 
eighteen miles distant. It was the warmest part of 
the day. The sun was stinging ; and a large part of 
the way the shade was scant. 

Suddenly clouds came up. In the distance we 
heard low mutterings from the coming storm. We 
then hurried on ; and at last almost furiously. We 
were in sight of Lyme, although a mile from it, when 
we came to the same kind of hill as had caused the 
mischief the day before. In precisely the same way 
Lex stumbled again. This time the mis-step proved 
a serious disaster. The thunder shower was just 
ready to burst when he limped up to the Grant 
House. 

On the piazza were two ladies and a gentleman. 

** You cannot keep those people can you, Mrs. 
Grant?" inquired the gentleman. 

"No," was the madam's answer. 

**Is there any other public house near? " we asked. 

** No," again from the landlady. (328) 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 329 

"Well, then we must stop here," very decidedly 
from our carriage ; at the same time we alighted. 

When we had thus forced ourselves on Mrs. Grant's 
hospitality she became very cordial in her reception. 

Her husband was away, she informed us, and they 
had decided not to keep hotel any longer. 

The gentleman and lady who were there were old 
customers whom she could not refuse. They were a 
sewing machine man and his wife by the name of 
Smith, from Boston. 

Here was just the man to give us the information 
we needed. He knew everything which we wanted 
to know, but did not. 

We were surprised to learn from him that a hundred 
miles up the Connecticut the farms were finer than 
anything we had yet seen. 

The shower did not prove to be a very terrible one, 
and when it was over a nice supper was served. 

We passed a very pleasant evening being enter- 
tained with music, and song, and conversation, just 
as if we were company, instead of travelers. 

A handsome black Morgan horse was at pasture in 
the orchard near by. Mrs. G. said her husband 
wished to sell it. Now it had long been a dream of 
the judge's to possess a pair of those horses. 

*' They are short, and tough, and never tire nor get 
lame. There is never anything the matter with a 
good Morgan horse," the judge told us. 

That night we held a little family council over the 
matter ; but got no further than this : we agreed that 
the judge might see what sort of trade Mr. Grant, who 
was expected home about midnight, would oflfer to 
make. 



330 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

The judge was up and dressed and out by 5 o'clock 
the next morning to inspect the black horse in antici- 
pation of a banter. We knew we held the balance of 
power ; and yet we trembled for poor Lex's safety. 

The judge was not out long. In fact he returned 
rather hastily, and entered the room exclaiming, 

" That horse is lamer than ours ! Grant says it is 
only from getting scratched by a nail ; but I am not 
going to trade a lame horse we are acquainted with, 
for one we know nothing about" 

Then we breathed more freely, and in our heart of 
hearts rejoiced that Lexington had for the present, es- 
caped being sacrificed. 

We did not feel in very good spirits however, as 
we drove away from Lyme that lovely morning after 
the summer rain had made the world so fresh and 
sweet. 

Lex was somewhat better ; but still unmistakably 
lame. We drove slowly, not intending to make more 
than thirteen miles that forenoon. 

" Be sure to stop at Harry Stevens' for dinner," 
was Mr. Smith's parting injunction. 

At Orford, eight miles away, we came to what is 
called " Houghton's folly," a big and very curious 
barn, into which we could drive our whole establish- 
ment up to the second story ! 

A little way from there we crossed the Connecticut 
river and found ourselves again in Vermont. The 
place was called Fairlee, Something like the Pali- 
sades on the Hudson, faced the bridge over which we 
went. They left but little room for the town. 

We turned sharply to the right and drove directly 
north through the sand to Bradford. There we 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 33I 

crossed Wait's river, a small stream with a very big 
falls and romantic scenery, a tributary of the Con- 
necticut. 

When we told Mr. Stevens that Mr. Smith had 
sent us there, he gave us a warm welcome. 

While we were waiting for our dinner, an open 
buggy drawn by a perfect beauty of a black horse, and 
driven by two pretty girls came into the door-yard. 

The horse was a great pet and would try to find 
candy and apples in the young ladies' pockets. Mr. 
Stevens called him a Morgan, although we afterwards 
found he came by way of Canada. 

The judge admired the horse exceedingly. In fact 
we all did. He was as pretty as a picture. 

In one hour's time he was ours. We had sold Lex ! ! 

A cute Yankee is too much for a Pennsylvania 
Dutchman. 

We had paid two hundred dollars to boot. The 
price of Lex until he stumbled had been four hundred. 

Mr. Stevens seated us at the dinner table before his 
regular boarders came in. Not expecting to see any 
familiar faces we did not even look up as they came 
trooping in. At last a lady took her seat exactly 
opposite. An involuntary upward glance ; our eyes 
met. With an exclamation of surprise and delight 
we rushed to embrace each other. 

We had been chums "years and years ago." 

How strange that in a part of the country where 
neither had ever been before, we should cross each 
other's path again. 

The afternoon proved rainy, and we stayed to talk 
over old times, and live youth's gay and happy scenes 
over again. 



332 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

Friday morning, August 12th, we awoke to find 

the clouds parting, and the sun shining out. By the 

way, we have found the old saying true, 

" There is but one Friday in a year, 
That the sun doth not appear." 

Sadly we parted from our old friend so haply met ; 
and sadly too we took our leave of L,ex. 

"He never was an affectionate horse," said the 
judge, bravely trying to make as light of the parting 
as possible. 

" That is so," asserted the doctor ; "but he was so 
reliable and so handsome ! You could not help re- 
specting and admiring him. It will be long before 
we shall look upon his like again." 

We named the new horse Morgan from his supposed 
blood. We harnessed him, not on the side where 
Lex had been, but put Oscar there ; and the new 
horse in Oscar's place, in order not to miss Lex so 
much. 

" They do not match at all," said the doctor. 

"I did not expect them to," replied the judge. 
' ' We will find a match for Morgan ; and keep Oscar 
exclusively for your saddle ; " he said soothingly. 

At Well's River Junction we again crossed into 
New Hampshire. With fine weather, and through 
wild scenery, we drove to Lisbon, and stopped to take 
our nooning at the Bingham House. We were a day 
in advance of our time. This was the 14th of August. 
We were not due at Bethlehem till|the fifteenth. We 
were all so anxious to get settled for the hay-fever 
season, that we concluded to telegraph asking if our 
rooms at Ramlet's were ready. 

Requesting the answer to be sent to meet us at 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 333 

Thayer's, in I^ittleton, we drove another ten miles, 
and called for it. 

What a miracle it seems when one stops to think of 
it ! We send a thought through the invisible air at 
such wonderful speed : and back comes the response, 
stopping at just the point we have indicated. 

We were very glad to find the answer was, " Yes, 
come on. ' ' 

On we went five miles more. 

The moment we left Littleton, Oscar thought he 
knew just where we were going. 

We had already come about thirty-five miles and 
both horses must have been very tired. 

Oscar's irenewed courage seemed in some way to 
communicate itself to Morgan. 

The horses came into Bethlehem about sunset in 
fine style. Oscar recognized his old stable at Wilder's, 
where he boarded last summer. We could hardly 
whip him past it on our way to the Sinclair Stables. 

The new horse had done very well. He kept up 
his end of the traces ; but it was comical to see 
Oscar's stately stride mated with Morgan's pudgy 
movements. 

Quite a number of friends, some of whom we had 
met at Long Branch, were watching for our arrival 
and gave us a hearty welcome. A warm supper was 
also waiting for us. This was the first of a series of 
nearly perfect meals. 

Several large Saratoga trunks which had been for- 
warded by express, were awaiting our attention. To 
unpacking these, and to getting fitted into our new 
quarters, we devoted Saturday. 

We took a short run down to the Maplewood and 



334 '■t'HK WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

Up to the Centennial to see if the horses were at all 
stiff from their long drive. 

A great change had come over the weather. That 
night was absolutely cold. The judge called for his 
heavy English walking coat, which in the hot June 
days before leaving Philadelphia, he had declared he 
should not need again until snow flew. 

"Don't let us lug that along," he had said when 
the trunks were being packed. 

It was funny now to hear him ask for it in a half 
deprecating manner. 

"I suppose you did not bring my walking coat, 
did you ? ' ' 

" Yes sir, here it is." 

The look of welcome he gave it, paid us for the 
trouble of a surreptitious packing. 

Sunday morning there was a great attraction at the 

Methodist Church. The Rev. Mr. S was going 

to preach and the revivalists, Mr. and Mrs. Hoyt, 
were going to sing. They had really beautiful voices 
and they sang soul -stirring music. They were stay- 
ing at our hotel under the patronage of a very rich 
man who had once been very wicked, but was now 
brought to see the error of his ways by their singing. 

"A very pleasant way of getting converted," our 
parson remarked, after attending their " Evening of 
Song" in the hotel parlor. 

"A Romish lady, brought up in popery," very 
sweetly volunteered to play their accompaniments on 
the piano, while they sang, "Oh, 'tis wonderful," 
and other evangelical hymns, in a way that rings in 
our ears forever. 

Our old-time parson with the new-time ideas, some 




Ml 11 THAT. ■' SAID TlIK .ll'lxiE, -SAV 
TIiiN AlJAINST AHCTir FRICIIiITY 

[See pawe aos] 



AN INSANK l'i;iiTKi 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 335 

think, is little better than a skeptic. This is one of 
the questions which he propounded, and thereby 
shocked some sincere orthodox souls tremendously. 

Now it seems that this sweet singer in Israel is 
the inventor of the coupon system. 

You do not know what that is? well I'll tell you. 

There is a law against compelling one's workmen 
to trade at his employer's store. This man has con- 
trived to circumvent that law. He issues coupons to 
employes which will be accepted as money at the 
employer's store, but are not redeemable if presented 
anywhere else. "The destruction of the poor is al- 
ways his poverty. " His wages are not due till the 
end of the month, but his necessities are present and 
pressing. He is almost forced to accept these coup- 
ons and buy at the store where he must pay any price 
his masters choose to ask. 

"Is not this a diabolical system ? " said the parson, 
"and in thus assisting to oppress the poor, is he not 
committing a sin which no amount of the blood of 
which he is so continually prating can wash away ? " 



THE ROUND TRIP. 
CHAPTER XXXIV. 

WISHING to try Morgan single we drove him to 
Echo Farm. * ' He has no great speed, but 
for beauty he will be hard to match," remarked the 
doctor. 

*'I can do it, though," replied the judge. "I 
said nothing about it at the time, but at Bellow's 
Falls I saw just such a horse. They offered him to 
me for two hundred and fifty dollars." 

The judge was as eager as a lover wherever a horse 
which he fancied was concerned. On Wednesday he 
could no longer be persuaded to delay going by train 
to Bellow's Falls to see if his impression of that horse 
was correct. 

Who would have believed there were gyps in Ver- 
mont ! When the Bellow's Falls man found that the 
judge wanted the horse bad enough to come after 
him, he increased his price one hundred dollars, told 
an entirely different story to account for his desire to 
sell ; and besides all that, the judge was quite certain, 
he had substituted another horse ! The judge has 
such an honest face and frank ways, that rogues 
sometimes mistake him for a gullible person. The 
doctor always waits with great interest to see how 
astonished they are surely going to be. It would 

undoubtedly have been worth the price of that hun- 

(336) 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 337 

dred miles travel, to have heard the judge open on that 
Bellow's Falls man at last. 

Meanwhile we had but one saddle horse between 
us. It did very well for the judge to ride alone ; but 
when it came the lady doctor's turn, it looked quite 
diflferent. 

She declared that she felt like the old maid who 
went "on foot and alone, across lots and a crying, to 
get married." 

Even the high praises of her handsome horse and 
horsemanship, by a local paper, which made the 
extravagant statement that she " rode with faultless 
grace," even this, and the applause from the piazzas, 
failed to make her feel comfortable in riding without 
an escort. 

Perceiving this, the generous-hearted judge said, 
"I'll have my saddle put on Morgan and go with you. 
I can ride anything but a cow." 

Morgan seemed somewhat surprised when the sad- 
dle was put upon his back, but allowed it without 
much protest. He evidently thought it was some 
novel kind of harness ; but when the judge essayed to 
niount him, he determined to draw the line just 
there. That was carrying the thing a little too far. 
He positively refused to stand still. It would not do 
for the judge to be beaten ; so he contrived to outwit 
Morgan. Two strong ostlers seized one foot and left 
the poor animal standing on three legs, while the 
judge gained his seat in the saddle. Then Morgan 
went meekly pudging along beside Oscar, the two 
looking, for all the world, like some of the mis- 
matched couples one meets occasionally. 

Almost every mountain house keeps its own Tally- 



338 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

ho, and has its own peculiar senseless cry. The 
Sinclair's, 

"Wah! Hoo! Wah ! 
Wah ! Hoo ! Wah ! 
Giddy, Giddy, Sinclair, 
Wah ! Hoo ! Wah ! " 
and the Howard House, 

"Happy ! Happy ! 
Howard House ! 
Ha! Ha! Ha!" 
and many others, with the tooting of the horns make 
it seem as if Bedlam has broken loose sometimes. 

*' That beast will never make a riding horse by any 
amount of skillful training," said Mr. C, the presi- 
dent of a Montreal Sporting Club, one morning, as 
from our piazza, he witnessed the judge struggling 
with Morgan's education. 

"If you notice you will see he turns his toes in- 
ward, and when he trots puts one fore foot just in 
front of the other. If he should make a mis-step he 
would surely tumble and throw his rider heels over 
head." 

This speech aroused the doctor's fears for the 
judge's safety and she refused absolutely to let him 
run such risk again. 

Then a great eflfort was made to find what is called 
a combination horse, one fit for both driving and 
riding, and still a match for Morgan in size and color. 
It became noised all about town, and in the country 
round about, that we wanted a horse. Such speci- 
mens as they brought would have been comical if 
they had not been provoking. It was getting toward 
the close of the season and people were ready to part 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 339 

with their spavined, and spoiled, and wind-broken, 
and generally used up animals. Almost every shade 
of color, and every shape and size were brought to 
match our pretty, plump, black, little Morgan. 
Among them came one elephantine creature, 17^ 
hands high, and weighing twelve hundred pounds ! 

We had a delightfully sociable set at Ranlet's. 
Everybody seemed ready to do what they could 
toward the general entertainment. There was no 
lack therefore of evening amusement. One time 
Mrs. Barruch, who had come on our recommendation 
from Long Branch, got up a donkey party ; and such 
fun as we had ! The judge was confident that he 
could put the tail in its proper position without the 
least hesitation ; but came near getting the booby 
prize by getting the farthest oflf. One Friday night 
we had a game with beans called "Speculation;" 
and the next day at dinner, the usual Saturday dish 
of baked beans appeared on our neatly printed bill of 
fare as ' ' Speculation Beans. ' * 

For the rainy days, when exercise was needed, a 
game of Blindman's Buflf was introduced. The 
doctor excelled as the blindman, and could keep a 
whole room-full stirring to get out of the way. 

When from long storms, outside walking became 
impracticable, she organized a broom brigade. The 
columns marched two abreast with mountain canes 
carried like guns at rest. They moved two paces 
forward and one back : first with right foot, then with 
left. 

Then she instituted a regular gymnastic drill for 
the expansion and strengthening of the chest and 
other muscles. Some of the guests declared these 



340 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

exercises gave them an increase of appetite, for which 
the proprietors might be less grateful than they were. 

Sometimes we had musical and literary entertain- 
ments, with artistically printed and ornamented pro- 
grams. In these our party always took a prominent 
part. 

Some Sunday nights our parson occupied the whole 
time, with the exception of the singing of the hymns 
by the audience ; and once by a professional artist the 
solo "Consider the lilies" was given. Even the 
children enjoyed our parson's preachments. The 
youngest son of our host, little ten-year-old Dan, was 
one of the brightest boys in the world. He would 
take his high table chair, and placing it in the front 
row of seats, watch and devour every word of the 
discourse. On one of these occasions he said to the 
speaker, "Don't be too serious. You know I don't 
like prayer meetings." 

August 24th was a grand gala day ; there was a 
parade of vehicles ornamented in every conceivable 
way ; there was a procession of people ; there were 
bright skies and brilliant colors ; there were prizes 
for beauty and decorations ; there was base-ball and 
fire-works. Each hotel spread all its banners to the 
breeze, and streamers in all the colors of the rainbow 
flew from the flag staffs. 

Everj'body seemed "gay and happy." 

We were not entirely given over to fun and frolic. 
Very often we enjoyed a purely intellectual treat, as 
for instance, when our Harvard man, Prof. Hooper, 
from Boston, explained to us Prof. Agassiz's theory, 
of the coral formation of Florida, and the judge pre- 
sented Professor Heilprin's refutation of that theory. 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 34 1 

and evidences that the peninsula was of volcanic 
origin. The coral reefs, he, Heilprin, says, have 
formed around the previously erupted masses. Such 
scientific discussion is always profitable, whether it 
absolutely settles anything or not. 

One of our most splendid talkers and listeners too, 
was Dr. North, of Waterbury, Connecticut. He 
knew a great deal in other directions than his pro- 
fession, and was not a bit pedantic. 

Time flew on silken wings. We were almost in 
danger of surfeit from the sweets of life. There was 
just one nuisance of which we could complain. The 
flies. A fortune and fame awaits the man who shall 
invent some way of ridding hotels of these pests. 

The doctor had providentially brought screens for 
our windows, but the halls were full of flies, and the 
moment the door was open, in rushed a hungry' 
swarm, that defied every attempt at an afternoon 
nap. 

The doctor is not easily thwarted in what she 
undertakes. When one plan fails she tries another. 
The next device was to tr>' fly-paper. The only 
kind she could procure was the sticky sort. She 
placed some in the hall on trunks near the door in 
order to catch as many as possible before they could 
begin their depredations inside. Then she placed 
some in the rooms. One sheet of it she pinned to the 
window shade. 

Presently the hall boy came up-stairs with a visitor's 
card. He was one of those constitutionally tired people 
who embrace every opportunity to sit down. Vaguely 
remembering there was a trunk by the door he seated 
himself to wait till his rap should be answered. 



342 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

As the doctor took the card and bade him say she 
would be down directly, what was her chagrin to see 
him descending the stairs with that abominable fly- 
paper sticking to his trousers. 

Then in a hasty attempt to straighten out her 
tangled locks, she shook out her long tresses, and oh ! 
horror of horrors ! ! every separate end seemed to 
catch on that fly-paper which was securely pinned to 
the window shade ! ! ! Pulling and squirming were 
utterly useless ; and it was in vain to try to reach the 
scissors which were lying six feet away. Fortunately 
the chamber-maid came along and released her from 
the predicament. 

On the mountains we can know how tempests 
originate ; for we actually see the storms and thunder 
clouds making up. 

All day August 24th, the skies wore a peculiar 
leaden gray. The mountains and hills were a beauti- 
ful sky blue, while fleecy vapors gathered themselves 
into long rolls like masses of white illusion. It was 
a most lovely study of mingled cloud and color. 

The subdued light and cool temperature were so 
favorable for horse-back riding that the judge could 
not resist the temptation to try Morgan once more, 
notwithstanding the difficulty of mounting and dis- 
mounting. 

When we returned to the house a closely veiled 
figure was descending from a carriage sobbing. The 
steward of the hotel had died in convulsions that 
morning, and this was his widow. 

The judge had been so absorbed in the antics of his 
steed that he had failed to observe anything peculiar 
in the lady's appearance, and the occurrence of the 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 343 

death had been so effectually concealed that not half 
a dozen people in the house knew of it, and they were 
pledged to secrecy. 

It was many days before any other member of our 
party knew of that tragedy in our midst. The doctor 
was awake and knew when, at midnight, heavy 
stealthy steps came down the stairs, and a hearse and 
one lone carriage rolled away. 

She was glad that others could sleep soundly, and 
see nothing of the shadow of death which had come 
within our borders. 

The next morning, **The sunshine sweetly smiled 
as Ihis early glance came forth," and laughter and 
music and dancing, sounded through the halls where 
so lately that sad little funeral procession had been. 



THE ROUND TRIP. 

CHAPTER XXXV. 

HOW few people have the sense to dress according 
to the weather. Some days when the tempera- 
ture was that of November, they would wear the 
daintiest and thinnest of dresses and the flimsiest of 
shawls. Their hands were so cold, and their faces 
so blue and pinched, that we knew they had not a 
bit of flannel on. Our doctor had to tell some of them 
they were fit candidates for consumption. 

Decidedly the most charming public entertainment 
given in Bethlehem was a concert by Mrs. Alice Shaw, 
of New York. It was perfectly unique. She could 
represent whole operas, whistling like a bird. She 
was also a woman of magnificent proportions and 
presence. Everybody was in love with her ; and yet 
she was a deserted wife ! She had found herself 
obliged to utilize her talent for the support of herselt 
and her two little girls. - We are glad to learn since 
then, that the pecuniary success she failed of here, she 
found in foreign countries. 

One of the very best charades we had was with the 
word investigate. For the Inn the whole office was 
g^ven up, and the actors took possession of all its 
paraphernalia. The arrivals were remarkably dis- 
tinguished. Among them came the Irish agitator 
O'Brien. The keeper of the inn was Mr. Culbert, ot 
Philadelphia, whose versatility of talents enabled him 

(344) 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 345 

to become all things to all men. In the next scene 
he was a German Jew keeping a clothing store, and 
trying to sell a vest many sizes too large to Mrs. Young, 
who had brought little Dan to be fitted. " If any- 
thing, this vest fits too much," said Mr. C. in broken 
Dutch accent, and imperturbable gravity, as he 
wrapped the vest almost double about the boy, and 
insisted that the pretty widow should buy it. In the 
third scene Dr. North appeared as the oculist and one 
of the most lovely young ladies, with bandaged eyes, 
was the patient. His diagnosis was that she had 
strained her eyes by looking after a lover ; and his 
treatment forbade her to look at any young man for a 
fortnight. In the fourth scene little Kitty Moore 
sang 

" Come down by the gate." 

The audience applauded roundly, and readily gave 
the word investigate. 

The next day the reporter of a local paper called 
to interview our doctor, who was supposed to be the 
prime mover in all these festivities. The story of the 
evening lost nothing in her rendition of it, and when 
the paper was published, the talent at Ranlet's awoke 
to find itself famous. 

The sunset of August 27th was grand beyond de- 
scription. With a friend we paced the Highland 
House piazza for an hour. Looking westward from 
there, it was very difficult to believe that we had 
crossed all those billows of land in our frail little 
pheaton. 

There was in our company at least one lady, Mrs. 
Hooper, who told a story equal to any man. She was 
the daughter of a prominent Boston divine, and the 



346 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

talent was inherited. I wish we could have kept a 
list of her stories. We will mention only one at pres- 
ent. A minister was very fond of horses and drove a 
spanking pair. To this his church made no objection, 
but when he essayed to drive them tandem, they 
thought it time to enter their protest. To the com- 
mittee who waited upon him he declared he could see 
no more impropriety in putting one horse ahead of 
the other than by driving them side by side. It was 
then a bright illustration occurred to the deacon who 
had been chosen to bear to their pastor the sense of 
the meeting. '* Now parson," said he, " when yor 
pray, you spread your hands out like this, side by side ; 
this is all right and proper, but " — suddenly placing 
the thumb of one hand to the tip of his nose, and the 
thumb of the other to the little finger of the first — 
*' how would that look in the pulpit ? " 

Sunday, August 28th, we made up a nice congenial 
party, hired one of the big wagons, and drove to the 
new Unitarian church at Littleton. 

The building was pretty and roomy, but hardly half 
filled. The place for the choir was perched much too 
high ; and they sang higher than their voices were 
ever intended to go. The man in the pulpit we took 
for a little unfledged divinity student. 

Dr. North said he reminded him of the young fellow 
who was called upon to diagnose a case, and modestly 
declined because he had only got as far as fevers in 
his hospital studies. 

" Your story is a good one, but not apposite," said 
his wife ; "for this man seemed to think he knew it 
all." 

" The greatest fault I found with his sermon," said 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 347 

our parson, *'was its lack of fervor. One might as 
well undertake to heat an oven with snow-balls." 

Our Jewess friend rebuked us all by her silence, and 
when we questioned her, she said, "I went to the 
sanctuary to worship, and so saw nothing to criticise." 

That evening there was a lecture in the Ranlet 
parlor on Religion and Morality by our parson. Two 
Episcopal ministers happened to call just before it be- 
gan, and took away to the opposite room several of 
our congregation. Your reporter went, a committee 
of one, and invited the ministers to come in and listen 
to the lecture. 

They declined, saying they could only remain a few 
minutes. Nevertheless they did remain all the even- 
ing, and talked and laughed so loudly as seriously to 
disturb our meeting. 

The impoliteness and selfishness of the cloth is 
sometimes quite shocking. 

The judge had somehow got greatly into the good 
graces of those revivalists before mentioned. The 
morning came when they were to leave us. After 
breakfast they invited the judge down to the cottage 
where they had lodged. He asked the doctor to go 
along. When we v/ere all gathered together with one 
accord in that upper chamber, they asked the judge 
to lead in prayer. 

The judge politely declined, saying, 

*' I will join with you ;" but they insisted. 

We know he wished himself a mile away, but his 
disposition to oblige is immense. Down he went on 
his marrow bones, and while we followed suit, and 
fell on our knees, we hoped that he would give them a 
specimen of his most liberal thought in regard to sup- 



348 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

plication. For once in his life I think he failed to 
have the courage of his convictions. He tried to sat- 
isfy the demand of the occasion by quoting scripture, 
and did his level best ; but everybody felt that his 
heart was not in it The brethren uttered one or two 
faint amens ; but on the whole that prayer was a dead 
failure. 

The judge himself said he did not think it got out 
of the room until the meeting broke up and the doors 
were opened. 

If at Bethlehem you have not strength to climb a 
real mountain and yet wish to feel that you are let 
out into a large place, go up on Strawberry Hill. In 
almost every direction the views are extensive and the 
scenery magnificent. 

At night this is one of the grandest places imagin- 
able to study astronomy. There every clear night 
" the heavens declare the glory of God and the firma- 
ment showeth His handiwork." 

Always our favorite drive was along the Amonoosic. 
It was so solitary and so secluded. The lady doctor 
told the judge, "I do so love to be alone with you, 
with the horses, and with Nature." 

" Oh ! the golden days, the long bright days, 
The gladdest of the year ! 
The green grass springs, the wild bird sings, 
The summer time is here." 

On one of the last of the summer days, a party in 
whom we were interested went to see Mount Wash- 
ington. 

How we watched the weather, and anxiously specu- 
lated about the prospect from the top. 

The day proved to be all we could desire for them. 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 349 

" The earth was full of life and joy, 
The air was full of splendor : 
And unto all the south wind brought 
Her message sweet and tender." 

That night we held an experience meeting in the 
parlor ; and each one told the eflfect of his first visit to 
Mount Washington. 

Mrs. Barnich said she felt as she went up, that the 
gates of Heaven were opened unto her. 

Another said, "never before did I feel that I was 
not afraid to die." 

One said, ' ' this passage of scripture constantly re- 
curred to my mind, ' He toucheth the mountains with 
his finger and they smoke. ' The whisps of cloud and 
mist often simulated smoke and volcanoes." 

All agreed that the sight of high mountains de- 
velopes a deeply religious feeling. 

One of Mrs. Shaw's Concert Company, Mrs. Camp- 
bell, received a telegram from New York asking her 
to hasten home to her sick mother. 

The lady's distress elicited our fullest sympathy. 
A dozen or more of us accompanied her to the depot. 
A great many people happened to be leaving on that 
train and there was great confusion. In the midst of 
it Prof. Hooper volunteered to get Mrs. C.'s trunk 
checked. 

The professor is a little near-sighted, and in the 
crowd he mistook a person in a blue flannel suit for 
the baggage-master. The man turned angrily upon 
him, saying, 

** D you : do you take me for a porter ? " 

** Excuse me, sir," said the polite professor, "I 
mistook you for a gentleman.'* 



35© THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

One morning when we were driving Morgan down 
the long hill towards Littleton, he stumbled fearfully. 

The judge looked discouraged, but charitably at- 
tributed the fault to the new shoes he had on. 

We took him to one learned blacksmith after an- 
other ; but neither change of shoes, nor of mechanics, 
seemed able to remove the difficulty. 

Hearing of a pair of '* elegant dapple horses " for 
sale at Whitfield, ten miles away, we went there. The 
drive was new to us, and very lovely. In that respect 
it was a grand success ; but the horses ! 

They were a dirty gray, and fit only for teaming I 

The little old-fashioned tavern where we alighted 
to rest for a while, had a large quaint parlor with open- 
fire-place and brass and-irons^ on which some fresh, 
almost green, logs were smouldering. 

It was the last place in the world where one would 
expect to find anything in the way of fine arts. The 
walls were covered with them. There were lovely 
landscapes and painted flowers. There was gobelin 
work and bric-a-brac. 

We fairly feasted our eyes ; but our noses suffered ; 
for there was a stale smell of tobacco, and even the 
ghosts of departed dinners lingered in that unaired 
room. 

On our way out we had seen all along at our left, 
on the side of a long low mountain, a storm brewing. 
It seemed curiously enough to follow without ever 
overtaking us. When we returned it was through 
deep puddles which it had made ; and on every leaf 
and lowly flower the summer rain had left a pearl. 

Connected with our enjoyment of all these beauties, 
and these blessings, was the constant feeling of thanks- 




' One Plump Little Woman cot a Bi shel ok Clams and a big Blue 
Fish by Express. It was a BriohtBit of the Salt Sea Shore 
Tasted on the White Movntains. 



[See page 209] 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 35 1 

giving to the Author of all good, that one dearer to 
us than our own life, was escaping the suffering which 
would have been sure to come to him at this season 
anywhere else. It seemed to us a daily miracle that 
in the months of August and September our darling 
should have no hay-fever. 

I think it must be a similar feeling of gratitude 
which makes so many happy faces in Bethlehem. At 
none of the summer resorts have we ever found this 
expression so general. 

In accounting for it the judge said, 

"May it not be that only we good-natured fellowT 
are liable to the disease? " 

The doctor did not say so, but she remembered hav- 
ing seen him look doleful enough at home sometimes 
when he had no use of either nose or eyes. 



THE ROUND TRIP. 
CHAPTER XXXVI. 

ONE of the smartest boys at Bethlehem was Sa-lie 
B , from New York. He was handsome, 

wide awake, kind hearted, but spoiled and selfish from 
being the baby of the family. 

He often reminded us of the Scripture, " And a 
little child shall lead them. ' ' 

Whatever he determined upon was the thing which 
was sure to be done. 

"No, my son," said the fond mother, *' we are not 
going home for a week, and you are not going to 
Mount Washington to-morrow." 

"We will see," was Sa-lie's laconic reply. 

"I have left Sa-lie sound asleep," said the mother 
triumphantly to us, as she hurried oflf to catch the 
cars next morning. 

Presently we heard a mighty rushing noise ; down 
came a half-dressed boy running for the station . He 
boarded the train just as it was pulling oiit. He had 
no breakfast, no extra protection against the lower 
temperature, but somehow he managed to obtain both, 
and had a very comfortable time. 

We knew he had determined to go home next day. 

We were quite sure he would carry his point, and so 

prepared for the inevitable parting. 

It was a perfect day, the first one of September. 
(352) 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 353 

On account of the prejudice against the Jews, we had 
been asked to say nothing about Mrs. B.'s religion. 

The Hoopers had been very kind to the mother and 
her child. She felt that she had not been quite frank 
with them, and so in leaving them, said '* perhaps I 
ought to have told you, I am a Jewess, and my hus- 
band is a lineal descednant of the Baruch who was 
scribe to the prophet Isaiah." 

The professor was visibly impressed by the revela- 
tion, and said solemnly, 

' ' And so in greeting your little son I have touched 
the hand of one who is related in blood to him who 
wrote a part of the Pentateuch ! ! " 

We felt so lonely after they left that we organized 
an expedition to the I^ook Off and Sunset Houses. We 
went in an open buck-board wagon. Mrs. Hooper 
called it "riding out of doors." The views were 
feasts of color and of beauty. 

It was another of those ' ' heavenly days that cannot 
die while memory lives. ' ' 

Mrs. H. told us of once traveling through this region 
with a stage-driver who sympathized with her delight 
by saying, 

" Yes marm. Art is slick, but Natur is slicker." 

It was the Professor's turn to tell a story, and he 
told one which the great Agassiz once told him. 

** Fletcher, the Greek scholar; Gray, the botanist, 
and Agassiz, the geologist, were once being taken 
through these mountains. The two latter. Gray and 
Agassiz, would leave the scholar to go slowly along 
in the wagon, while they ran along the road picking 
up specimens. This latter proceeding so aroused the 
curiosity of the driver that he asked the scholar who 



354 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

those two men were. 'They are Naturalists,* an- 
swered Fletcher. They afterwards heard of that 
driver telling somebody the next day, ' I had a queer 
load aboard yesterday. I had two naturals and their 
keeper ! ' " 

When Mrs. H. was a little Boston girl of thirteen 
she did a very bright thing. She has done many since 
I am sure. An older sister had received ten dollars 
from her grandmother. • The young lady thought- 
lessly laid it on the window-sill of a third story room. 
They saw a sudden gust of wind take it away. Ten 
dollar bills were too scarce in this minister's family 
to submit easily to their loss. This little girl took a 
piece of paper, as nearly of the same quality as possible, 
and cut it the size of the bill. This she laid on the 
same spot on the window-sill. Then she watched and 
waited. It was not long. Soon another gust took 
that away. Both girls looked to see where it would 
go. Not far away was an old church, on which a flat, 
projecting piece of rock formed with the roof a little 
recess. Directly there that bit of paper flew, and 
there they found the ten dollar bill ! 

In returning from the Sunset House, Professor H. 
gathered for us some of the earliest and most beautiful 
autumn leaves. They have graced our walls and 
kept his memory green ever since. 

That evening we were all too weary to do anything 
more than continue our story-telling and propose a 
few mild conundrums. 

"Two men met," said Mrs. H. : "one had been 
after a jug of molasses, the other was going. To save 
the second oue the trouble of going, the first offered 
to divide. They did so without taking out the cork 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 355 

of either jug. How did they do it? Ans. They 
pushed the stopples in ! ! " 

One who had been a teacher gave this mathematical 
problem. 

'* A man went into a shoe store and bought a pair 
of shoes, price $4.50. He oflfered in payment a $50 
bill. The shopman could not change it, and went 
outside to have it changed. Returning he gave the 
customer $45.50. A while afterwards the neighbor 
came in exclaiming ' that bill is counterfeit ! ' The 
store-keeper was, of course, obliged to refund the 
money. How much did he lose?" 

Various answers were given, from $4.50 up to 
$45. 50. The ex-schoolmaster finally explained to them 
the principle that you cannot in any such transaction, 
lose more nor less than the face of the bill. This was 

150- 

A very sweet young lady propounded the following : 

** A man had a certain number of apples which he 

determined to distribute without cutting an apple. 

To boy No. i he said, * I will give you half of my 

apples and half an apple over. ' To boy No. 2 he said, 

* I will give you half of what I have left and half an 

apple over. ' To boy No. 3 he said, ' I will give you 

half of what I have and half an apple over. ' Then he 

had none. He had not cut a single apple. How 

many had he in the first place ? Ans. Seven apples." 

You can verify this answer for yourselves. 

Spending a few days at Ranlet's was an Armenian, 
a handsome youth of 18 or thereabouts. He was a 

student from school, and collecting money to 

defray his expenses by selling Persian rugs and em- 
broideries. On a bright Sunday afternoon he hired a 



356 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

horse and rode to the Profile House. A friend drove 
along with little Dan in an open buggy. The young 
man, elated by the unwonted exercise, and exhila- 
rated by the fine weather, would ride very rapidly for 
a few minutes and then wait for his companions to 
come up to him, meanwhile baiting his horse on the 
green grass by the roadside. When he returned he 
was very happy over the pleastire he had enjoyed. 
Some of our strict Sabbatarians reproved him for go- 
ing on a Sunday. He opened his large innocent eyes 
in surprise and asked in broken English, " Did I do 
some wrong in going ? " 

The next day we were surprised. The poor boy was 
arrested for cruelty to an animal. The horse was un- 
doubtedly a little stiflf from his fast galloping — that 
was all. But a local judge fined him $50 ! 

Our judge was indignant, and immediately set about 
some measures of relief The best he could do was 
to reduce the demand about one-half Then he started 
a subscription to raise the amount. After the money 
was paid, they hired out the horse to a little girl that 
very afternoon ! 

The look of the stranger in a strange land when he 
fully realized the imposition those stable men had put 
upon him, we cannot soon forget. 

He said "he was the man who went down into 
Jerico and fell among thieves." 

He said, " If one of you were in my country, and 
fell into such disaster, all my countrymen would have 
been sympathetic, like some of you." 

His account of the trouble was very amusing. At 
the end ot each recital he would quote some Scripture 
which seemed to him appropriate, as for instance, "All 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 357 

tings work togezzer for good to them zat love ze Lord. ' ' 
Then he would add, I shall go no more on Sunday on 
the horse-back. 

In leaving us he expressed great gratitude for the 
assistance we had rendered. From Boston he tele- 
graphed, 

" Receive the most sincere fragrance of my ac- 
knowledge for the kindness of your guests at Ranlet's." 

It reminded our parson of a deaf mute's definition 
of forgiveness. " It is the incense which flowers emit 
when they are bruised." 

One evening when 

" The moonlight with silver sheen, 
Touched mountain, vale and stream," 

and we could see Mount Washington tipped with 
snow. Mrs. Ranlet told us the following story : 

** Years ago when the Government Signal Service 
was first established on Mount Washington, there 
were only two men left there during the winter. Now 
there are always three. We had a key to the tele- 
graph, and at least morn and night we would speak 
to those distant men. It happened that we were sud- 
denly called away, and then snow-bound for two days. 
As soon as we returned Mr. R. touched his key and 
inquired ' How are you ? ' The dreadful answer came 

back, ' has been dead for nearly two days. The 

body is in this little room close beside me. Thank 
God, you have returned. It has saved me from be- 
coming raving mad.' " It was many days," Mrs. R. 
said, "before we could send him anymore substantial 
succor than our words of hope and cheer ; but these 
kept him in heart, and no one since has been left to 
such awful solitude up there." 



358 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

Thackeray once wrote, ' ' A domestic rose-leaf 
rumpled, puts me off my work for a day." We were 
reminded of this saying when one day the primitive 
water works of Bethlehem quit working, their one 
pipe choked by the falling autumnal leaves. It caused 
almost a panic in town for twelve hours ! 

There was a Miss C. at Upland's whose acquaint- 
ance we made, and whose sweet Christian character 
we appreciated very much ; but we do not mention her 
especially for these things. They are not so very un- 
common among women as to require remarks. Miss 
C. was the second person we met whose ambition had 
been fully satisfied. 

She was the daughter of a minister in Buffalo ; our 
parson had known him long ago. The principal of 
the high-school there had been from her childhood 
Miss C.'s especial admiration. She had always 
thought if ever she should be so fortunate as to fill 
such a position she would be perfectly satisfied ; and 
now she had attained that position and was perfectly 
content. Like our landlord Davis, at Peru, she de- 
sired nothing better, and nothing more. 

It was not always easy to satisfy the demand for 
some new entertainment every evening at Ranlet's. 
And one evening when little Dan said to our lady 
doctor, " What are you going to give us to-night? " 
she answered almost at random, " The blind Phrenol- 
ogist." It turned out one of the greatest successes 
of all. The strange part of it was, she astonished 
herself. 

The candidates for examination, thirteen in number, 
were brought draped from head to foot in sheets, so 
it was impossible from the dress to tell the sex. The 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 359 

doctor was herself completely blindfolded. She was 
not allowed to touch the face below the nose nor in 
front of the ears. 

Of one person she said, " this brain has at one time 
been well developed and strong. It is comparatively 
useless now." It proved to be the head of a college 
professor who had suflfered partial paralysis. 

One of the children she described as having im- 
mense alimentiveness. After it was over, little Dan 
claimed that description ; and said when he gave his 
order for his dinner, he always told the waiter to tell 
the cook who it was for, so he would get an extra 
slice. 

Out of all present she selected Mrs. Ranlet for a 
business partner, and remarked, "this person will 
hardly be a silent partner either." 

The audience evidently thought things were going 
a little too smoothly, and they "put up a job," as the 
boys say. 

On Mr. C.'s head they pinned a chignon. The 
doctor happened to place her hands only on the organs 
not covered by this mass of hair. She described him 
as his friends afterwards said, most perfectly ; told of 
his business and social qualities, his fondness for 
games and athletic sports, etc. 

Just then the judge, who could keep quiet no longer, 
whispered, " Put your hand on top." 

There was the bunch of womanly hair ! 

For a moment she was staggered, and then she 
bravely said, "It is a man's brain no matter if it is 
on a woman's shoulders." 

One of the candidates was a Mr. M., a merchant 
from Providence. Many weeks afterwards our doctor 



360 THE WEST- BROOK DRIVES. 

had some business which took her to one of the larg- 
est stores in that city of Roger Williams ; a gentleman 
greeted her as if he had been her brother, extending 
both hands and calling her by her name. ' ' You do not 
seem to recollect me," he said; *'I was one of the 
subjects examined by the blind phrenologist at Ran- 
let's. My wife declares you hit me on the head every 
time." 

One of the noted men at Bethlehem with whose 
features we became most familiar was Lucius Quintus 
Curtius Lamar, our late Secretary of the Interior, 
then Associate Judge of the Supreme Court. 

He was tall and thin, with stooping shoulders ; 
while his grizzled long hair, beard and moustache, 
imparted a leonine look to his intellectual face. He 
had brought his private secretary along, and main- 
tained a sort of governmental head-quarters in the 
Presby cottage. 

His romantic courtship during his visit of the pre- 
vious year added to the interest which he inspired. 
The story was that a youthful love had been revived 
after a lapse of many years. The bride was about his 
own age, and as distinguished looking as himself. 

It was a pleasant and rare sight to meet them in 
public, and observe how polite and mutually atten- 
tive this married couple, past middle life, were. To 
strangers the explanation was generally given, " They 
have not been married long." 

Why should this be so ? Why should it be a re- 
markable thing to find two elderly people, a husband 
and wife, treating each other with respect and tender- 
ness ? Is it true that one of Love's surest phases is to 
grow cold ? 



THE ROUND TRIP. 
CHAPTER XXXVII. 

"Into all lives some rain must fall, 
Some days must be dark and dreary." 

OUR dark days came suddenly, September 7th. 
The judge was taken terribly sick. How he 
struggled against it ! For forty years he had had no 
long and serious illness. It seemed almost impossible 
to keep him in bed. He astonished everybody by 
dressing and appearing in the parlor when he was too 
sick to stand. It was very hard when he found him- 
self obliged to give up. 

Our friend, Dr. North had gone home ; but fortu- 
nately his partner, Dr. Axtelle, had gone to Ranlet's 
for his vacation. He was comparatively young, but 
he knew a great deal. He had such an amount of 
good common sense and good judgment ; he proved 
himself a great comfort to our doctor in these days of 
trial and anxiety. 

We never realized till then how many friends we 
had made. What a surprising number of good folks 
there are in this sinful world ! In more ways than 
we could have thought of, they gave us helpful sym- 
pathy. There was nobody and nothing, in the whole 
house that was not at our service. They left us no 

opportunity to regret home comfort. 

(361) 



362 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

The very day the judge was taken so violently ill, 
a young lady whom we had been expecting from 
Maine, en route to Brooklyn, arrived, The people 
at Ranlet's met her, and devoted themselves to her 
comfort and entertainment as if she had been their 
dearest friend. They did this for our sake at first ; 
but soon learned to love her for her own sweet self. 

Our friend, Mr. T., who had kindly undertaken to 
initiate our young lady into the mysteries and 
beauties of a walk up Mount Agassiz, quite lost his 
heart, I think. 

One bright day, when the judge was better, and 
Lizzie's visit was over, Mr. T. took a solitary walk 
over the same ground. On his return he said to us : 

'' I've just been to the top of Agassiz again. It only 
required the presence of a certain blue Tam O'Shanter 
to make the place perfectly heavenly." 

He was wishing for our Elizabeth ! ! ! 

When once he got out of doors again, the judge 
convalesced rapidly. His step was very weak for a 
while however, and the parson quoted, "Man at his 
best estate is altogether vanity." 

As soon as he was at all able, the judge became 
anxious to start on our homeward journey. 

"We are praying for a heavy storm to keep you 
here to-morrow," our friends said. 

" It is only the prayers of the righteous that avail," 
said the judge. " I am praying for fair weather." 

The skies were leaden, the wind was cold, and a 
heavy fog prevailed, when at 10 A. M., September 
i6th, we drove away from Bethlehem towards Lisbon 
where we hoped to dine. 

Even with closed curtains and heavy carriage robes, 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 363 

we felt chilly. At the Bingham House thicker flan- 
nels, a warm room, and a hot dinner, made us happy 
and comfortable. Then the sun came out, and at two 
o'clock we pushed on towards Bradford, Vermont, in 
good spirits. 

The gray rocks and stone walls, the different shades 
of pines and firs, the white birches, the various trees 
in rosy autumnal tints, the browns of the nearer hills, 
and the blues of the distant mountains, and over all 
a flood of golden sunshine, made a picture we cannot 
soon forget. A curiosity in the way of a sunflower, 
twenty-three feet high, grown so large by use of 
phosphate of lime, attracted our attention. A field 
of corn, harvested and left standing in shocks, simu- 
lated in the early twilight, an army of Indians. 

Supper was smoking hot on the table when we 
reached Harry Stevens'. They put us to sleep in an 
old-fashioned bed-room, where the bedstead was one 
hundred years old. The only anachronism which 
disturbed our equanimity was the materials of the 
canopy, the very modern cheese cloth and turkey red! 

There were neither locks nor bolts on either door 
or windows ; and no provision for any ventilation. It 
did not make us feel any better satisfied with our 
quarters when they told us our immediate predecessors 
had gone home sick with Typhoid Fever. 

The next morning we expressed a desire to see Lex. 
He was brought harnessed into the yard and left 
standing without hitching while Mr. Stevens went 
into breakfast ! 

Poor fellow ! was it from pique he refused to recog- 
nize us ? His once sleek and shiny coat looked now 
as a miller's horse might have done. It evidently 



364 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

had no acquaintance with brush or curry-comb since 
we left him. A diet of apples and meal had made 
him spiritless and subdued. He seemed no longer 
like the Lex we had loved. 

In a previous correspondence with Mr. Stevens we 
had arranged to find a match for Morgan, And now 
Black Hawk, only three weeks off a farm where he 
had been plowing, was presented to our inspection. 
His color and size were all right : his gait was good, 
but he was only five years old. He was young and 
green and had a crooked tail ! 

To the tail the doctor seriously objected ; but was 
only laughed at, and told she ought to be surgeon 
enough to straighten it. 

The upshot of the matter was we bought Black 
Hawk for ^300. We arranged to send Oscar by train 
to Boston, and have him shipped from there to Phila- 
delphia by steamer. 

At 2 o'clock, P. M., we were ready to leave for 
Hanover. Long ago John G. Saxe discovered that 
Vermont is famous for three things, maple molasses, 
horses and women. The first he said was the sweet- 
est : the second the fleetest, and the third beat all 
creation ! 

In one hour after leaving Bradford we re-crossed 
the Connecticut at Fairlee, land were once more in 
New Hampshire. 

Then with the river flowing by our right we went 
on to Hanover, the seat of Dartmouth College. Some 
would have called our road that afternoon lonely, as 
in many places it was grass-grown, and the houses far 
apart? but those charming landscapes, those lovely 
skies, and murmuring streams ! ! 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 365 

Inquiring for the hotel to which we had been 
recommended, we were told it was recently burned 
down. This was the third hotel we had found in that 
condition within the State, and we concluded hotels 
burned with great facility in this part of the country. 
It hardly seemed safe to stay in one. 

The opera house had been temporarily fitted up for 
the purpose. A partition had been run straight 
through, dividing the stage into two equal halves. 
On one side the billiard room and on the other a long 
narrow dining room. At meal time, the latter was 
filled with boisterous students, many of them in stripes 
and knickerbockers. Some were talking French, 
some German, and a few English. All were laughing 
and noisy, and smelled of tobacco. 

A few bald-headed professors in skull caps were 
scattered around, but made no attempt to maintain 
order. 

Our doctor was the only lady. 

There were five hundred and fifty students in 
town. 

A rough set ! was my first estimate of them. 

"What can you expect of these poor fellows, de- 
prived as they are of the refining influences of home 
and womanly society?" exclaimed the judge. 

Co-education would civilize them, we all agreed. 

The parlor was in the garret ! Our host led the 
way up two flights of stairs and sent his boy to build 
a fire in the stove. Then he came himself to see how 
it was burning. He kindly told us "You won't be 
lonesome long. Captain Chubb and his wife are 
coming to stay over Sunday." 

We did not know who Captain Chubb was : but we 



366 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

knew enough not to display our ignorance on a 
subject which we were evidently expected to under- 
stand. 

We waited patiently, not doubting we should readily 
find out from the gentleman himself. 

A pretty French chambermaid had left the room 
undusted and untidy enough, while she chatted and 
flirted with a parcel of students in the hall-way. 

Presently we heard other sounds. In fact many of 
them, and with great flourish our host presented 
Captain and Mrs. Chubb, of Texas, and their grand- 
son, a tall handsome fellow of twenty, a Freshman at 
Dartmouth. 

Our landlord was right. The Captain made it 
lively for us. He told us of his war experiences, of 
his being in Fort lyafayette in irons. He told us the 
romance of his life ; and that he was seventy-seven 
years old and had never used rum nor tobacco. He 
said he resolved in early youth that his wife should 
never complain. 

" How often instead of otter of rose, 
With vulgar smells he saluted her nose 
From gin, tobacco and onions." 

"I tell you," he declared emphatically, "a man 
has no business to be less sweet than he expects his 
wife to be. If she should take snuflf you'd all allow 
that to be cause for divorce. Why should it not be 
the same if I chew tobacco?" 

Mrs. C. was a grand looking woman with lovely 
gray hair. She was at least sixty, but her eyes 
sparkled with fond admiration of the Captain. 

Whenever the Captain paused for breath, or to rest 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 367 

for a few minutes, she would improve the time by 
giving some wise bit of counsel to the young man 
whom they were going to leave on Monday. 

**Doyou know why," she asked of us: "do you 
know why folks bring up their grand-children better 
than they do their own children? " 

"No," we replied, not wishing to controvert the 
statement as a fact, although it was no fact according 
to our observation. 

"The reason is," she responded, "the reason is, 
because they come to us at a time of our life when we 
have had more experience. ' ' 

And certainly if this young man be taken as a 
specimen of the effect of her more mature training, 
there might be some truth in that theory. 

He was a very polite young gentleman. His man- 
ners and graces of speech were what those of Lord 
Chesterfield's son should have been, but were not. 

His grandfather had been at one time collector of 
the port of Galveston, and still held high social 
position there. 

If Mrs. Chubb never was annoyed by the smell of 
tobacco before, she must have been that night. 

Our sheets looked clean, but the blankets and 
heavy cotton abominations miscalled comforters, were 
filthy, and full of smoke. 

The Captain's room was next to ours, and through 
the thin partition we could not help hearing every 
word. 

"Now see that everything is all right, my dear, 
before you turn out the light," we heard the lady say 
from beneath the covers. 

Then after a little, ' ' How dreadfully dark this room 



368 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

is. I hope my dear, you put the matches just where 
you can lay your hand upon them." 

"No," answered the Captain's voice, "I did not so 
much as think if there were any matches. Never 
mind, my dearie," he continued, "we may not need 
them." 

" But what if we should ! " said Mrs. C, "what if 
burglars should break in, or the house take fire ! " 

"Well, in the latter case, we could run away by 
the light of it ; but the matter of burglars would be a 
more serious one, for I could not see in what direction 
to shoot." 

Just then our ever provident doctor tapped at the 
communicating door and said : 

"Excuse me for interrupting your conversation, 
but we have more matches than we need and we will 
gladly share them with you." 

After that all was quiet along that line the rest of 
the night. 

We awoke to find a cold, foggy morning. With 
numbed fingers we dressed ourselves ; and at 8 o'clock 
had a forlorn breakfast in the barn-like room on the 
ground floor. 

We were obliged to go out of doors and walk about 
to get warm. Fortunately the sun came out about 
9 o'clock and made things more cheerful. 

We found that Hanover is really a pretty place, 
with many beautiful elm and maple trees. It is small, 
with only a couple of thousand inhabitants. 

The college was established early in the present 
century. The main buildings look old and worn and 
about as attractive as a house of correction. The 
campus is extensive ; and in one corner a former 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 369 

student, now very rich, has built an elegant brown 
and gray stone chapel. The residences of the 
faculty are many of them pleasant looking places. 

Ex-Senator Patterson's country house is there. 

Salmon Portland Chase was graduated from Dart- 
mouth in 1826. It is said when Daniel Webster re- 
ceived his diploma there, he was told that he hardly 
deserved it. Whereupon he tore the sheepskin in 
pieces, exclaiming to the president of the college, 
*' You'll hear from me again, sir." 

As we passed along through the streets, the students 
seemed to swarm. As we looked at these cigarette 
smoking, boat rowing, whisky drinking, poker play- 
ing, boxing, carousing, athletes, we could not but 
think of the hard-fisted old farmers, and work-worn 
women, who were cheerfully paying their bills under 
the impression that their self-sacrifice is making 
learned men of them. 

One of the most promising young men whom we 
met among the students of to-day was a mulatto, born 
a slave, but sent by his father, who was also his 
owner, to school at Oberlin, and thence to Dartmouth. 
He was now in the Medical department, and had re- 
cently been appointed Assistant Demonstrator of 
Anatomy. 

''Colored men," said our doctor, "are like women 
in this respect, if you give them a fair chance, and 
then allow the devil to catch the hindermost, he will 
not get a colored man nor a woman every time." 

"The thing," said the parson, "which distresses 
me most in the aspect here, is the look of dissipation 
about many of the collegians." 

The judge to whom comfortable living is a part of 



370 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

religion, came to the rescue. " May not the want of 
proper food, which we have ourselves experienced this 
morning, account for a great deal of the trouble ? 
Women, and the clergy," he slyly added, "can live 
daintily and virtuously and quite happily, on toast 
and tea and moral principle ; but full-grown men de- 
mand a more generous diet. If that is not at hand 
they naturally resort to artificial stimulation. Make 
better bread, and mankind will have better morals." 




' It was a Pleasant and Rake Sight to meet them in Public ani> 
Observe how Polite and Mutually Attentive this Married 
Couple past Middle Life were." 



[See page 360] 



THE ROUND TRIP. 
CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

THE afternoon of that day proved so fine that we 
concluded to improve it by driving as far as 
Windsor, Vermont, and afterwards take the rest of 
our Sabbath in some rainy weather. 

We drove to Lebanon and crossed the Connecticut 
at White River Junction, thence on the right bank to 
the resting place we had chosen for that night. 

Each separate farm we passed seemed to maintain 
its own little grave-yard. 

"If Gabriel is expected to visit all these private 
Yankee cemeteries," said the judge, "it will keep 
him pretty busy on the morning of the resurrection." 

Riding along we saw a pumpkin vine trained to 
climb a tree. It had hung one of its golden globes 
far out on a limb. Peeping out over the garden 
wall we saw the bright-eyed youngster who had per- 
petrated the practical joke. 

At one house nasturtiums had been planted so the 
flowers arranged themselves in the most artistic ways, 
like Japanese draperies thrown over the upper corner 
of picture frames. 

At one spot by the road-side Nature herself had 
tried her hand at artistic arrangement. A cluster of 
purple asters stood tall and straight against the rail 
fence, and over it a wreath of clematis fell in rich 
festoons. (371) 



372 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

Near the town a cow stood transfigured on a hill- 
top, her form outlined against the glowing sunset 
sky. 

The judge remarked that he had long believed 
that horses went to heaven, but never knew till now 
that cows did. 

The day being Sunday we had a little pious talk, 
and among other things the subject of denominational 
fellowship and union meetings, came up. 

Our parson thought the thing was the merest pre- 
tense, especially among the so-called orthodox and 
the liberal sects. In one place he knew the Christians 
made a great show of uniting ; but when the Univer- 
salist minister entered, gave out the hymn " There's 
a wolf in the fold," or they would read that Satan 
came also. The Universalist would sometimes re- 
spond by singing, 

" If you get there before I do, 
Look out for me, I'm coming too." 

Mount Ascutney and charming scenery, add to the 
attractions of Windsor county. 

The weather was so magnificent, and the drive so 
delightful, we were almost sorry when at 5 o'clock, P. 
M., we arrived at the old-fashioned Windsor House. 
We entered a very wide hall, and passing up a broad 
flight of stairs reached the rooms assigned us. They 
were about twenty feet square, and one of them was 
warmed by a soap-stone stove. 

The town of Windsor lies in the midst of the finest 
agricultural and sheep-raising section of the State. 

The next day was fine enough ; but somehow almost 
everything had gone wrong. 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 373 

We left town early by one of the fine avenues lined 
by elms and maples by which in every direction it is 
approached. 

We crossed the Vermont Central railroad which 
passes through and spoils the centre of the town. 

Windsor has only 2,000 inhabitants, but it is a 
wide-awake, lively, little place. 

That was undeniably a blue Monday. We had not 
gone far before we met ragweed — the pest of hay- 
fever patients — grown almost to the size of young 
trees. The ripe pollen caused a return of the sneezes. 
Black Hawk's shoulders were blistered from wearing 
Oscar's large collar. 

" He cannot fill poor Oscar's shoes, we said. And 
then we began to be worried about Oscar's safety. 
Who would take care of him in that long voyage by 
the sea? What storms, what vicissitudes might hap- 
pen by the way ! 

The judge was for once despondent and declared he 
never expected to set eyes on Oscar again. He said 
he would be glad to sell him to any one who would 
take the risk of his safe delivery at Philadelphia for 
$150. Whereupon the doctor agreed to give him that 
amount for his half of Oscar ; the other half being 
already hers. 

Morgan had been limping a little from the scratches 
the day before, and now Black Hawk began to limp 
too. 

The judge was thoroughly vexed, and insisted that 
these Yankees were too stingy to give a horse enough 
straw for a decent bed, and that was the cause ot all 
this trouble. 

We reached Bellow's Falls a little past noon ; but 



374 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

even the sumptuous dinner that awaited us at the 
Townsend Hotel failed to restore the equilibrium. 

At this place and at Lisbon were the only bath tubs 
we had seen for six weeks. Even now the spigots 
were tied up so the tub could not be filled ; and we 
were still confined to the limited accommodations 
afibrded by the wash-bowl. Our A. B. meant Anti- 
Bathers. 

Bellow's Falls has a park, named after our black 
horse Morgan. It is not large, but very odd, and 
high, and pretty. You reach it by going up Pine 
Hill, and it overlooks the river. 

The place has an island on which is a nice summer 
hotel. The Connecticut river forms here a curious 
set of rapids a mile long. Thus is afibrded an abun- 
dance of water power for numerous manufactories. 

At the stable the horsemen all praised Black Hawk. 
"That is the horse you will keep," they said to the 
judge. 

Their opinion was a little crumb of comfort ; but 
he had the scratches dreadfully, and he did not seem 
very strong, and then that tail ! ! Morgan's was 
unusually handsome, and that made the contrast 
greater. 

The sun was rising in the east and the moon was 
setting in the west ; thus they faced each other, when 
we were making ready for our departure from busy 
Bellow's Falls. We drove first to Saxton river, 
thence to the soap-stone works. We came to Grafton 
and stopped to pay our respects to the landlord of the 
Phillips House, whom we had left for almost dead ; 
but now found sitting in dressing gown and slippers 
out on the piazza, and almost well. 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 375 

Then we went out miles and miles through woods, 
not meeting a face, nor seeing a single house. We 
learned how the first roads were made through the 
wilderness, simply by following the streams up or 
down. 

The way the light came through the dense foliage 

reminded our parson of an epitaph he once saw on a 

young girl's grave, 

" Like sunshine broken in a rill, 
Though turned aside, 'tis sunshine still." 

We hoped to reach Peru and enjoy another of Mr. 
Davis' dinners ; but we got out of our way and landed 
at Lovel's Lake. 

A farmer whom we saw told us to take the first 
traveled road to our right. The one we decided to 
take looked to our unpracticed eyes as much traveled 
as any other in that region. But it took us very 
wrong. 

A house was standing where we turned to the 
right ; but no one was at home. On we went in the 
wrong direction. In sight of another house we 
thought now we will find out where we are. To our 
dismay nobody was home there save a big black calf 
tied to a post and looking almost as hungry as we 
felt. 

By that time we were quite sure we were going 
wrong, and so we retraced our weary steps to the 
place where we turned off. 

It was considerably past two o'clock when we 
reached the little old hotel at Ivondonderry, Vermont. 
We had come in a nearly straight line from Bellow's 
Falls, only about twenty-six miles, but the detour we 
had made caused us to be late for dinner anywhere. 



376 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

The pretty landlady at Londonderry who was also 
maid of all work, soon had a very comfortable repast 
ready for us. To it we did ample justice. The 
landlord, who was also his own ostler, took such 
good care of our horses we concluded to remain all 
night. 

The little town was made up of a farming com- 
munity. They were harvesting their pumpkins and 
digging their potatoes. 

We felt we were not so very remote from fashion 
and civilization when on the little parlor table we saw 
a Revue Des Modes and samples by mail from Jordan 
& Marsh, of Boston ; H. O'Neil, of New York, and 
John Wanamaker of Philadelphia. 

That plain old house displayed as dainty a tea-set 
as we had ever seen ; and the shade of the parlor drop- 
light was hand-painted ! ! 

While waiting for her tea-kettle to boil, our land- 
lady played on the organ and sang for us. 

This little Londonderry is the centre where five 
roads meet. Everything was crowded into a heap. 
Some of the cottages almost hung over the stream of 
water. 

When we were informed that there were two cases 
of Typhoid Fever next door and eighteen cases of 
dysentery within five miles, we thought that part of 
the country was hardly a healthful residence. 

This hotel, like most of its kind, had a large hall 
over the bar-room. It was used for balls and lectures, 
and sometimes for preaching, as there was no church 
building. 

We were awakened from our dreams next morning 
by the sounds of our landlady playing. The stool 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 377 

upon which she sat was of that squeaking kind which 
would make a discord in the most heavenly singing. 

It reminded us of the man who had bought a music 
stool ; and afterwards declared himself dreadfully dis- 
appointed. He said he thought it a confounded hum- 
bug. He said he'd screwed it in every direction and 
couldn't get a bit of music out of it. 

We were thankful to find on descending to the 
breakfast room that the exercise of her talents had 
not made our hostess unmindful of her housewifely 
duties. A truly delicious meal awaited our pleasure : 
and then not satisfied with this, she insisted upon our 
taking a lunch along when we left at 8 o'clock. *' It 
will be late before you get your dinner at Arlington," 
she said, knowing well we must drive slowly on ac- 
count of our horses' sore shoulders and tender feet. 

We looked longingly at the Bromley House as we 
drove through Peru. We greatly wished to stop and 
stay for another of Mr. Davis' dinners, but there were 
signs of its storming by the morrow and we felt 
obliged to push on. 

**The equinoctial is already overdue," the judge 
said, * ' and I know of no place on the road where I 
could meet it with such equanimity and resignation 
as at Lee's, at Cambridge, N. Y." 

To this there were no dissenting voices, and that 
subject was settled. 

The air was hazy, and there was a bitter chill in 
the bleak wind which blew from the north-west and 
suggested snow squalls. It struck a shiver to the very 
marrow of our bones as we came over the toll-gate 
road across the mountain. 



THE ROUND TRIP. 
CHAPTER XXXIX. 

THE white marble slabs still paved the side-walks 
of Arlington when we arrived there at 2 P. M., 
the 2ist of September. 

The summer guests had gone away with the summei 
birds. 

We rested awhile and enjoyed a comfortable dinner, 
then started for Cambridge, still many miles away. 

On a brighter day the drive along the Hoosic river 
would have been charming. 

There was one place which we were very anxious 
to be through before night came on, and that was the 
forest through which we had passed that Sunday after- 
noon so many weeks before. 

The state of the atmosphere would, we knew, make 
it dark before its time. 

We were passing through a little settlement, and 
were almost in front of a wheel-wright's shop, when 
one of our hind wheels gave an ominous squeak and 
almost ceased its revolutions. 

One of our party ran into the shop for the assistance 
we needed. Two men with the proper tools came 
promptly to our aid. The wheel was taken oflf and 
found to have some particles of sand lodged in the axle, 

which were rapidly producing a " hot wheel.'* 

(378) 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 379 

We grudged even this delay, and yet were so thank- 
ful that it happened just then and there. 

"What if it had occurred in the middle of that 
dreadful forest, ' ' we said, ' ' and we could have got out 
in neither direction ! " 

Somehow we lost our bearings and got out of the 
road. We went quite around the town instead of go- 
ing straight into it, and so missed the dreadful forest 
entirely. 

We went over a much better but a longer road, and 
did not arrive at the Union Hotel till sometime after 
dark. Then the threatened storm came on, and we 
spent two nights and a day there. 

The town has 18,000 inhabitants, and eight 
churches. They pay ministers $16,000 in all the 
salaries ; and the liquors which are drank cost more 
than the bread of all those people ! The consumption 
of tobacco costs more than all the fuel those families 
burn ! ! 

There had been an impromptu wedding at the 
Union House since we went away. The son's "best 
girl" had been invited for a little visit, and then 
everybody persuaded her into a hasty marriage and a 
return with him to Beatrice, Nebraska, at the end of 
his brief vacation. 

It seemed to be taking a rather unfair advantage of 
a young girl ; but from what we had seen of the 
young man we felt quite sure she had not married in 
haste to repent at leisure. 

Between 8 and 9 A. M. on Friday we made our 
adieux to our kind Cambridge friends and started for 
Melrose. 

The clouds were still thick, but at noon when we 



380 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

reached Melrose they had parted and let out a flood of 
sunshine over all the landscape. The old rhyme came 
true, 

" There is but one Friday in a year, 
But that the sun it doth appear." 

We were glad to see that " the woman that always 
was tired ' ' had found some one to help her that day, 
so the sympathy for her weariness did not spoil our 
good dinners. 

We were within ten miles of Troy and thought we 
remembered the road so perfectly that we declined the 
Melrose landlord's proflfer to direct us. 

We had not gone far before we came where two 
ways met, and found we did not know which one to 
take. 

" I want to go to Troy," said the judge to a man 
whom we met. 

"Well, I'll let you," was the laconic response. 
Then as if to atone for his pertness, the man turned 
his horse and led the way for more than a mile. 

On the top of a hill we came in sight of Cohoes. 

Above it, the afternoon sun, partly concealed by 
clouds, was producing the phenomenon which un- 
scientific people call " the sun drawing water." 

Driving through the valley below, the Lansing- 
burg's Fifth Avenue, we inquired of an Irishman 
where Troy was. 

" Yer right in it now," was his answer. " Yous 
needn' t move till yous get into the city of Troy. Ye' 11 
be there in a quarter of an hour, or mebbe in ten 
minutes if ye loike." 

It was half-past four P. M. when we reached the 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 381 

Hudson and went on board the boat Saratpga bound 
for New York. 

This gave us a "lift," as the farmers say, of one 
hundred and six miles. 

Almost the first to greet us on the Saratoga were 
our host and hostess of the Union, Mr. and Mrs. Lees, 
oflf for a little pleasure trip to Gotham and the sea-side. 

We reached New York City at 8 o'clock Saturday 
morning. We crossed into New Jersey by the 
Hoboken ferry ; had an unpleasant delay in getting 
over the draw-bridge, yet arrived at Elizabeth, a six- 
teen miles' drive, in time for a noon dinner. 

At 2 P. M. we were ready to leave for an eighteen 
miles' drive to New Brunswick. The road was red 
and straight, and looked like a red ribbon with picot 
edges. Why the railroad should find it necessary or 
desirable to cross and re-cross so straight a line so 
many times was a puzzle to us. 

We looked into each of the hotels before settling 
down on one for the night ; and then concluded we 
had struck the dirtiest one that ever was. 

We had a bet that all the New Brunswick landlords 
were Deihocrats, and as far as we could ascertain it 
was so. 

This is the seat of Rutger's College, and we wished 
to visit it, but felt obliged to get away from our dis- 
tasteful quarters as soon as possible. 

Very early Sunday morning we started over one of 
the worst roads we had seen anywhere. The first part 
was badly cut up and rough from recent rain. Then 
it was sandy. Then it was rocky. Then it was both 
sandy and rocky, and the ground rising all the way. 

Through the most God-forsaken country, with 



382 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

shabby buildings and many deserted houses, we went. 
At the latter, the deserted houses, we did not greatly 
wonder. We were glad the people had spunk enough 
left to run away. We had taken the old pike instead 
of the new. There were whole acres grown up to 
ragweed gone to seed. 

This and the sand, made the judge and both horses 
sneeze. The parson sang, 

" If ever I pitch my tent again, 
I'll pitch it where Satan can't get in." 

We suggested he should substitute sand for Satan. 

There were no watering-troughs as in New England. 
With great difficulty we borrowed a pail and watered 
the horses at a well. 

Both Black Hawk and Morgan were dreadfully 
tired ; and as they limped along in the heat and 
through that sand, we could hardly refrain from wish- 
ing aloud that we had Lex and Oscar in their places. 

If I remember rightly, one of the party did so far 
forget themselves as to quote : 

" Remember this and bear in mind, 
A noble friend is hard to find ; 
And when you find one strong and true. 
Don't change the old one for a new." 

We left Princeton, the great seat of learning, con- 
siderably to the right. The road we chose was so 
straight it was almost a bee-line. We could see 
through the opening avenue of foliage, till the way 
met the horizon miles behind. It realized that oft 
repeated direction given us, * ' Road straight ahead. ' ' 

The sand to those weary ponies was like walking 
through freshly fallen snow 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 383 

That certainly was like Jordan, in that it was "A 
hard road to travel." 

The tamed look of our steeds reminded the judge of 
a story. 

Some verdant fellow once conceived the idea of 
training a young ox to the yoke by yoking himself 
up with the animal. 

The creature was wild and ran with all his might, 
taking the man with him. As they passed through 
the village the man called out to the bystanders, * ' Stop 
us ! Head us ofif somewhere ! ' ' 

Then, when their flight had been arrested, he, al' 
most exhausted, and panting for breath, exclaimed, 
" Unyoke the calf first ; I'll stand." 

There was no doubt but that both our horses would 
stand without hitching to-day. 

When we espied the distant spires of Trenton, the 
parson sung, 

" Courage my soul, on God rely, 
Deliverance now is nigh," 

It was 2 o'clock when, cold and hungry, and very 
weary, we entered the American House, and found a 
warm reception and a nice dinner after our twenty- 
four miles' drive. 

That evening we were sufficiently rested to attend 
church. 

*' What is to be the text, I wonder," some one near 
us said. 

" It should be," our parson said, as he looked to- 
wards the door where the several half-tipsy youths 
were peering in, "it should be, 'Run, speak to that 
young man. ' ' * 

*'Do you know," said our doctor, " that each de- 



384 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

nomination has an odor peculiar to itself. I could tell 
that I am in a Methodist meeting even if I were blind. ' ' 

"It is the odor of sanctity, I suppose," said the 
judge. 

The preacher on this occasion was young Mr. S. 
He gave us a most ingenious service of song and 
sermon. 

Through the pews were cards giving a list of sub- 
jects for six special sermons to young men. 

Two of the subjects, ' ' Shadowed, ' ' and a ' ' Gigantic 
Swindle," were painfully suggestive of recent histor>' 
connected, not only with a prominent member of that 
church, but also a member of the minister's family. 

The State Treasurer proved a defaulter and was sent 
to the penitentiary about the time his talented son 
entered the ministry. 

The Rev. Mr. S. seemed sincere and earnest. There 
was no sympathy in his voice or manner, yet he knew 
how to attract and sway the masses. He managed so 
that every one had a part to perform somewhere. 
The church was made beautiful and the music 
thrilling. 

We began the service feeling a little prejudiced 
against the man and his methods, but ended by join- 
ing heartily with the congregation, reciting the Gloria 
Patri. 

At breakfast on Monday morning we met a party 
driving from Asbury Park to Philadelphia. With 
them we joined company. The gentleman was, he 
told us, seventy-six, but spry and lively as a boy. 

The morning and the road were both fine until we 
reached Tacony. What an entrance to a great city 
like ours. 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 385 

Not in the wilderness of Vermont, nor among the 
steep hills of New Hampshire, were the roads any- 
thing like as bad. 

"Just to think," said the judge, "that to Phila- 
delphia — the birth-place of the nation, the adopted 
home of Franklin, the earliest capital of our country 
— this Tacony is agate-way." 

In parting at Broad Street with our companions of 
travel, we introduced ourselves and exchanged cards. 

Commodore S United States Navy, was on 

one which we received. 

At 3 P. M. we were snugly ensconced within our 
own little domicile, after an absence of three months, 
andjourneyings amounting to nearly a thousand miles. 
In the last ten days we had come four hundred and 
sixty-seven (467) miles. We had enjoyed it ; but were 
glad to be home again. Truly, and after all, there is 
no place like home. 

Finding there is a general desire among our readers 
to know more of Morgan and the horse-trades, I add 
this: 

After reaching home we continued to try every 
known device for making Morgan lift his feet higher, 
and travel wider ; but it was no use. He was only 
pretty to look at. In practical every day life it is 
with horses as with men, "Handsome is that hand- 
some does." 

We traded him for an Ohio horse, paying $150 to 
boot. 

Buckeye, that was his name, did not stumble. His 
action was good, he was good looking, save he had a 
bulging face ; but in his style and pace he was no 
match for Black Hawk. The latter had by this time 



386 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

developed a grace and beauty all his own. He had 
become showy and spirited, and yet so gentle. He 
had such speed and courage that he took Buckeye off 
his feet every time. 

Finally the judge resolved to try again. This time 
he went to Maryland, " My Maryland ! " On a stock 
farm there he found the perfect match in gait, and 
speed, and color. The new horse is named Bashaw, 
from his breed. I^ike Black Hawk he is " black but 
comely." 

Again we exchanged ; this time Buckeye for Bashaw. 
Again we paid boot, this time $200. The judge insists 
he has made money every time ; and this is the way 
he proves it. "The pair now stand me in," he says, 
" $1,000. I'd laugh at the man who would offer 
me less than $2,000 cash for them. You see why, 
they suit me. Dealing in horses is always, for the 
amateur trader, a sort of sum in profit and loss. To 
ascertain whether you have made or lost, let your 
calculations be based on the transactions of a number 
of months or years, and then strike a general average. " 
And the judge fondly pats his two black pets and de- 
clares he is satisfied with the general average. 



THE DRIVE TO LONGWOOD IN 1893. 
CHAPTER XL. 

TEN years ago we saw Longwood for the first time. 
Ever since then, when the June roses are in 
their earliest bloom and the purple Star of Bethlehem 
shows its sweet face among the green grasses, we have 
longed to be there. On the 9th of June, 1893 we 
were there for the third and last time. In the early 
morning of the day before, we had driven to that 
vicinity to be ready for the opening exercises of that 
famous meeting. 

We went not in such simple state as we did in 1883, 
with our one horse Lex, and the phaeton. This time 
we drove two black beauties, and took our friend and 
our colored coachman along ; but the judge held the 
reins — he still liked to do his own driving. Our 
carriage was a double one, large and cozy, and gay 
with golden yellow wheels. 

We started very early in the morning of June the 
8th, soon after sunrise, and long before many persons 
were astir. It gives one a feeling of self-satisfaction 
and superiority to be dressed and out when other 
people are still ingloriously snoozing. Most of us 
miss the most delightful part of the day in sleep. 
Crisp, fresh and bright that morning was, as we drove 
through the West Park to Hestonville and sought the 
Old Street Road, which history informs us was made 

(387) 



388 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

by William Penn some time during the latter part of 
the seventeenth century. It was laid out, the legend 
says, as the shortest possible line between his resi- 
dence, at Second and Market streets, and the home 
of his married daughter, either Margaret Freame or 
Letitia Aubrey. I cannot determine from the scanty 
data in my possession which one it was. 

The telegraph lines that run beside the Street Road 
now were a thing unthought of then, unless we take 
Shakespeare's Ariel for a prophesy of what it might 
be "to ride on the curled clouds, to meet and join 
Jove's lightning." In 1693 Peiin was obliged to ride 
all the way in cold or heat, sunshine or rain, to com- 
municate with his relative. Now the telegraph will 
deliver a message in an hour, and the voice of our 
friend can be heard a hundred miles away. What 
changes have been made ! What marvels may be de- 
veloped in the future ! 

What a charming part of the country Chester county 
is ! What a diversified landscape of hill and dale ! 
What broad acres and so free from rocks ! The 
wonder is where they ever got the stones to build so 
many stone houses. Wood, however, seems equally 
scarce, and we saw no facilities for making brick. 
Although history informs us that Penn was wise 
enough to stipulate that every fifth acre of land 
should remain uncleared, the owners of the later time 
have disregarded the direction, and have almost 
stripped the country of its forests. Even the roadside 
is a meadow, and we saw men mowing it. The little 
shoots of oak or walnut, spruce or maple, that might 
make trees, are ruthlessly cut down and burned in 
heaps. This shows the average man's stupidity, as 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 389 

well as his cupidity. The result is, the little streams, 
and even the Brandywine, are drying up. The land 
is no longer fertile, as formerly. 

There is a spot in Rhode Island, to which I make 
an annual pilgrimage, where Nature was originally 
far less bountiful, but where a fair proportion of 
forest has been left, and where in the fiercest drought 
the wells never dry. The owner, now an octogena- 
rian — all honor to the name of Col. Ara — was for a 
while, during the war, road supervisor. He simply 
cleared out the bramble and the briars along the road- 
side and left the young saplings free to grow. The 
consequence is, that here is a delightful stretch of 
shade in summer, and a protection from the snow 
drifts in winter. Long may the Colonel live to enjoy 
the fruits of his common sense ! This is a digression, 
as the ministers say ; but we must be allowed to 
wander still further, and by a sad contrast enforce a 
lesson. Adjoining the Colonel's road is another line, 
supervised by a man who acted on an entirely different 
policy. '*The vandals have done their very worst 
here, ' ' we exclaimed, as we passed by and found what 
a clean sweep he had made, burning the brush and 
carting off young thrifty trees as big round as his 
brawny arm, for firewood, to his home. The result 
in this latter case has been that in two years a bab- 
bling brook, which that thicket sheltered, is silenced 
forever. 

Let us now return to our drive through Chester 
county. Nature intended this county for one of her 
garden spots — one of her grandest parks in Pennsyl- 
vania. It has been so denuded by man that unless 
better and wiser men come to its rescue, it will in the 



390 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

next half century, have become an arid desert. The 
fact that Dr. Joseph T. Rothrock has been appointed 
by our Governor as botanist of the Forestry Associa- 
tion gives us great hope that something worthy will 
be done. He has resolved to visit in private car- 
riage every country in the State. There has been 
much talk and little work hitherto. Now that there 
is a legal holiday for the purpose of planting trees, 
let even the school children begin in real earnest, 
starting from their respective school-houses, till our 
roads become one continuous bower. 

As for ourselves that day, when the sun waxed 
warm, and our horse Stella began to shirk her burden, 
to drop back in the harnass, and leave the ambitious 
Bashaw to drag the whole load, how thankful we were 
to come to even one tree, which spread its cooling 
foliage over us. Under one of these, while the horses 
panted and rested, we opened our lunch basket and 
refreshed ourselves. At Newtown Square we found 
drink for the thirsty horses, but had no occasion our- 
selves, as our delicious bottle of cold coflfee, and lus- 
cious Sharpless strawberries, oranges and bananas, to 
say nothing of the meats, cakes and other dainties, 
had been sufl&cient to satisfy every want of the inner 
man. 

Our place of sojourn for that night was Lenape, a 
small settlement of about thirty inhabitants. This is 
a station of the Wilmington and Northern Railroad. 
It is the terminus of an electric road from West 
Chester, and has an island Park in the bend of the 
Brandywine, which is the favorite resort of pleasure 
seekers from the nearby towns. There is also a 
restaurant, a post-ofl5ce, a large flour-mill, and a farm 



THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 39 1 

with ancient and curious buildings. Our hospitable 
and venerable host, John Sager, has lived there many 
years, and likes not any changes save those where 
** time's effacing fingers have swept the lines where 
beauty lingers." 

The name Lenape is Indian. This was what one 
of the Algonquin tribes called themselves in their own 
language. In the beginning of the i6th century they 
dwelt in the valley of the Delaware river and along 
the banks of our Schuylldll. They have been pushed 
farther and farther away, until now the remnant is in 
Kansas, where, at the mouth of the Kansas river, 
they possess three hundred and seventy-five thousand 
acres of land and have become partially civilized. 

The Indians and their wrongs are always a popular 
topic for discussion at Longwood. We did not, how- 
ever, hear it this year, as our stay was only for one 
day, Friday, the 9th of June. The question of limited 
suffrage occupied both the morning and afternoon 
sessions. Miss Eastman, of Boston, gave the opening 
address. She is both mentally and physically im- 
mense. There are no longer many giants of either 
kind or sex at Longwood. Ichabad, "The glory of 
Israel is departed," is written on its doors. Never 
again will a Wendell Phillips, a William Lloyd Gar- 
rison, nor a Lucretia Mott send forth their strains of 
eloquence from its platform 'mid thunders of applause 
from its people. 

In the pretty little cemetery nearby we sought out 
the grave of Oliver Johnson, whom we had known 
in New York. Beside his grave was that of his first 
wife, Mary Ann ; and we thought of that other one 
and his only child, wandering through foreign lands 



392 THE WEST-BROOK DRIVES. 

and thinking often of him whom they so fondly loved, 

and whose delight and pride they were. 

We hardly expected to find many who remembered 

us where we had been so slightly known so long ago. 

We were, therefore, delightfully surprised by the 

hearty welcome we received during the noontide 

hour. In the words of Samuel Longfellow's noble 

hymn, 

"From hand to hand the greeting flows, 
From eye to eye the signals run, 
From heart to heart the bright hope glows ; 
The seekers of the light are one." 

Time has touched but lightly some dear faces that 
we knew and loved. One of the pleasant features of 
Longwood Meeting is the picnic dinner under the 
shady greenwood trees, while the birds sing overhead 
and the sweet breezes fan us. 

At 2 o'clock. P. M., the discussion was resumed. 
One of our party, who the judge says has decided 
opinions upon every conceivable subject, eflfectually 
disposed, we thought, of that ever recurring and 
vexed question of the franchise thus : " It is univer- 
sally conceded that all native born American men 
who can read and write, and have attained the age of 
twenty-one years, ought to be allowed to vote. Now 
admit all native women to the franchise on the same 
terms. In regard to foreigners, allow them equal 
rights with ourselves ; on the same conditions, namely, 
ability to read and write, and twenty-one years' 
residence in the countr>'. ' ' 

One of the founders of the lyongwood Meeting, and 
an old-time abolitionist, is Job Hayes, still living at 
the age of eighty-seven. We were invited to meet 



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